Senator Collins Urges Colleagues to Pass Additional Funding for Paycheck Protection Program to Support Small Businesses, Jobs

In Maine, three out of four small businesses have received a forgivable PPP loan, which has helped to sustain more than 250,000 jobs

Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ floor remarks.

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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, delivered remarks from the Senate floor today urging her colleagues to pass an amendment she authored with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) that would allow the hardest-hit small businesses to receive a second forgivable PPP loan.   

“The Paycheck Protection Program is the result of a bipartisan commitment to support our small businesses, nonprofits, and their employees during the pandemic.  It has been a tremendous success, but many hard-hit small businesses and nonprofits require more help now in order to survive,” said Senator Collins.  “This amendment provides that help.  I urge my colleagues to support it so that we can deliver this assistance now, while we continue to work to find common ground on policies to help support the health and safety of Mainers and the safe, responsible opening of our communities.”

The amendment would:

• Create a second draw of PPP for businesses with 300 or fewer employees with a 35 percent revenue decline.

• Expand the list of forgivable PPP loan expenses to include supplier costs and investments in facility modifications and personal protective equipment to operate safely.

• Extend the PPP to small 501(c)(6) organizations that are not lobbying organizations and that have 150 or fewer employers, such as local chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and tourism offices.

• Simplify the loan forgiveness process for small borrowers by directing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Treasury Department to develop a one-page simplified loan forgiveness form for borrowers of no more than $150,000.

• Provide the SBA with $50 million in additional audit funding to ensure that is has the resources to protect the program against fraud. 

• Include a series of set-asides designed to ensure that smaller borrowers and underserved communities get the help they need, such as: $25 billion for small businesses with 10 or fewer employees; $10 billion for loans made by small community lenders, including credit unions and small community banks; and $10 million for the Minority Business Development Agency.

Senators Collins, Rubio, Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) co-authored the PPP to help small employers stay afloat and continue paying their workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Since its launch in early April, more than 28,000 Maine small businesses and self-employed individuals have received nearly $2.3 billion in forgivable loans, helping to support more than 250,000 jobs throughout the state.

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