Senator Collins, Bipartisan Task Force to SBA and Treasury: Act Quickly to Implement Small Business Coronavirus Relief

Washington, D.C. — As leaders of the Small Business Task Force, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) sent a letter to Jovita Carranza, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, requesting immediate action to implement the Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act, which was signed into law as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

“It is critical that this relief is disbursed to small businesses as quickly as possible to help ensure that no small businesses are forced to choose between solvency and retaining their employees during this uncertain time,” the Senators wrote. “To that end, we urge the Treasury Department and the SBA to quickly issue publicly available, comprehensive guidance to lenders and businesses on the assistance available, including the Paycheck Protection Program, emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan grants, and debt relief provisions.”   

Last week, Senator Collins joined an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of her colleagues in voting 96-0 to advance a $2 trillion emergency economic relief package that will protect the health and the livelihoods of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law includes a $377 billion emergency economic relief plan she co-authored to help small businesses to continue to pay their workers. 

Click HERE to read the Senators’ letter. 

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