Economy

Small Business Admin Runs Out Of COVID Loan Money, Needs Congress To Act

Published

3 years ago

April 16, 2020

The U.S. Small Business Administration is no longer able to accept new applications for the coronavirus emergency loan program after hitting its $349 billion limit Thursday, according to their website. The advance provides businesses with up to $10,000 that doesn’t need to be paid back and is provided for them to stay afloat in the coronavirus pandemic.

“BA is unable to accept new applications at this time for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)-COVID-19 related assistance program (including EIDL Advances) based on available appropriations funding,” the SBA notice stated.

The SBA reports that the number of applications received in the last 14 days is more than 14 years of loan applications. Their statement continued, “Applicants who have already submitted their applications will continue to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.”

The message below is brought to you by congressional Democrats. #PaycheckProtectionProgram https://t.co/eaKXRcQMYP pic.twitter.com/63lvR2nvoy

— Cong. Steven Palazzo (@CongPalazzo) April 16, 2020

On March 27, the CARES Act budgeted $376 billion to American businesses and workers. In a joint statement released Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza urged “Congress to appropriate additional funds for the Paycheck Protection Program—a critical and overwhelmingly bipartisan program—at which point we will once again be able to process loan applications, issue loan numbers, and protect millions more paychecks.”

They added, “The high demand we have seen underscores the need for hardworking Americans to have access to relief as soon as possible. We want every eligible small business to participate and get the resources they need.”

U.S. lawmakers remain in a stalemate over appropriating additional funding. In an effort to bridge the partisan gap, Mnuchin is reportedly working with Democrats who voted against the GOP’s $250 billion bill in the Senate last week. The Senate, however, isn’t scheduled to be back in session until April 20, but may be forced to call an emergency session to provide needed funding.

In a letter sent to Republicans last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for additional funding of hospitals, personal protective equipment (PPE), and the food stamps program to be included in the next bill.

Exactly a week ago today, @SenateMajLdr introduced a one-page bill to fund paychecks for small business employees. Democrats blocked it.

As of this morning, the program is out of money.

This is on you, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.https://t.co/JK48SFSHXm

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 16, 2020

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, said Thursday on Twitter that the failure to get additional funding “is on you, Chuck Schumer and Nancy.”

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Economy

Biden spends $1.65 trillion taxpayer dollars while vacationing in St. Croix

Published

4 weeks ago

December 30, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

While vacationing in the island of St. Croix for the holidays, President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the massive $1.65 omnibus spending package.

The whopping 4,155 pages was supported by only nine House Republicans and 13 Senate Republicans. Majority of criticism from the GOP includes concerns that the bill was rushed and crammed with wasteful spending by a lame-duck Democratic-dominated Congress. The recourse will punish American families by adding to the national debt and exacerbate inflation.

“Today, I signed the bipartisan omnibus bill, ending a year of historic progress. It’ll invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, VAWA funding — and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine,” Biden tweeted. “Looking forward to more in 2023.”

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell “praised the bill on the grounds that it represents a real decrease in discretionary spending. He presented it as a positive that nondefense spending jumped by only 5.5 percent, from $730 billion to $772.5 billion, amid an inflation rate of 7.1 percent” writes National Review.

“The bipartisan government-funding bill that Senators Shelby and Leahy have finished negotiating does exactly the opposite of what the Biden administration first proposed,” he said. “This bill provides a substantial real-dollar increase to the defense baseline . . . and a substantial real-dollar cut to the non-defense, non-veterans baseline,” McConnell insisted as negotiations were wrapping up.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, however, stated his strong disapproval of the bill before it even advanced. Affirming a letter from 13 House Republicans, McCarthy demanded the bill is reckless, irresponsible, and a “purposeful refusal to secure and defend our borders.”

For example, it failed to incorporate protections for Title 42, the pandemic policy that allows illegal immigrants to be expelled on a public-health basis, which currently hangs in the balance at the Supreme Court.

National Review adds, “The funding in the bill, which averted a federal government shutdown before the new year, includes an allocation of $45 billion in defense assistance to Ukraine. Some Republican priorities, such as Electoral Count Act reform and a bigger military budget, were nested in with Democratic appropriations, such as increased funding for Medicaid and food stamps.”