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At least 100,000 Small Businesses Already Shut Down While Wealthy and Well-Connected Continue To Cash In

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late last night, the Trump Administration released new guidance to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness rules. The program has been marred by systematic failures since it was rolled out nearly two months ago.

The new rules attempt to clarify several aspects of the embattled program, including:

  • Outlining what forgivable expenses qualify as “payroll” and detail limits on the amount of loan forgiveness available for self-employed company owners;
  • Permitting loan forgiveness for bonuses paid to employees under certain circumstances;
  • Allowing SBA to review any loan issued under the PPP program at any time;
  • Clarifying that lenders have sixty days to review a loan forgiveness application once they’ve received it and more.
In response, Derek Martin, spokesman for government watchdog Accountable.US, released the following statement:
“This program was supposed to help small businesses stay afloat and keep their employees on through this pandemic. Instead of getting the support they need, too many small businesses have been met with endless red tape, constantly shifting rules and confusion at every level. The Trump Administration needs to communicate clear guidance to small business owners, not change the rules in the middle of the night over a holiday weekend with little or no explanation. Our small businesses deserve better.”

BACKGROUND: The Trump SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program has been bungled since day one, offering red tape and rejection to struggling small business owners while rolling out the red carpet for large publicly-traded companies that have resources average shops do not. A shocking recent report estimates over 100,000 small businesses have permanently closed since the pandemic took off in March. And a recent survey found only 12 percent of Black and Latino small business owners got the PPP loans they asked for, and nearly half say they expect to close for good in the next six months. Meanwhile, well over 600 publicly-traded firms or conflicted companies – some worth more than $100 million – have walked away with over a billion and a half dollars in taxpayer money. It’s no wonder the Trump administration has shied away from transparency in this process.

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