Joyce Votes to Provide Small Businesses Hurt by COVID-19 Pandemic with More Loan Flexibility

 

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Dave Joyce voted for H.R. 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act of 2020, to help small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic utilize their PPP loans without sacrificing loan forgiveness. This bipartisan bill, which Joyce is an original cosponsor of, would provide restaurants, retailers and other similar businesses with more time to utilize their PPP loans and meet the requirements to receive full loan forgiveness. H.R. 7010 passed by a nearly unanimous vote of 417 to 1.
 

“While there’s no doubt that PPP has helped save millions of small businesses and jobs, it has not been a perfect program,” said Joyce. “Current PPP timeline requirements, such as the eight-week limit to spend the loan, severely limit businesses from taking full advantage of the loans that were meant to get them back on their feet. These requirements have created great uncertainty for small businesses looking to fully leverage the value of their loan so that they can continue to operate, especially when it comes to restaurants and retail. That’s why I was proud to vote for this bill today to ensure our businesses have the flexibility they need to stay afloat until they can once again open their doors, Ohioans can get back to work and our economy is reignited.”

 

Specifically, H.R. 7010 would:

• Extend the covered period for forgivable PPP loans from 8 weeks to 24 weeks;
• Ensure employers who make good-faith efforts to rehire workers, but are ultimately unsuccessful, remain eligible for PPP loan forgiveness;
• Replace the current rule that requires 75% of the loan to be used on payroll costs and 25% to be used on mortgage interest, rent and utilities with a rule that allows 60% to be used on the former and 40% to be used on the latter;
• Establish that PPP loans issued in the future have a five-year maturity, as opposed to two years; and
• Allow businesses that receive forgiveness to also receive payroll tax deferment.

 

“I urge my colleagues in the Senate to act quickly so we can get this important legislation to the president’s desk to be signed into law as soon as possible,” said Joyce. “I will continue to do everything in my power to equip our small businesses with the tools and resources they need to weather this storm, safely reopen and continue their role as an integral part of the Buckeye economy.”

 

You can read the full text of the bill here.

 

###