Mnuchin, Congress weigh more help for small businesses as coronavirus crisis deepens

WASHINGTON – Senate leaders are moving quickly to add billions more to the coronavirus response program designed to keep small businesses from going under.

Following Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's request for extra resources, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. said he would bring to the Senate floor Thursday a measure that would expand the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which gives business owners with 500 or fewer workers low-interest loans to stay afloat. Those loans are forgiven by the government if at least 75% of the money goes to keeping employees on the payroll.

"It is quickly becoming clear that Congress will need to provide more funding or this crucial program may run dry," McConnell said in a statement Tuesday. "That cannot happen. Nearly 10 million Americans filed for unemployment in just the last two weeks. This is already a record-shattering tragedy and every day counts."

Because the Senate is on recess, McConnell said he hopes the Senate could pass the measure by voice vote Thursday and send it on to the House. Measures can pass by voice vote if no one shows up to object. But a spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said his office has yet to hear from McConnell on the issue.

President Donald Trump and top administration officials have said they want to expand the program, which already is drawing heavy demand from businesses amid a shaky and confusing rollout last week.

At a White House news conference Tuesday, Trump announced he would formally ask for another $250 billion for the program.

"The whole point of this program is to keep 50% of America back at work so small businesses can reopen quickly," Mnuchin told FOX Business Tuesday morning. "Let me just encourage everybody out there, if you can't get the loan today or tomorrow, don't worry. There will be money. If we run out of money, we'll go back for more. There's extraordinary demand."

Congress last week approved $349 billion for the PPP as part of the $2.2 trillion package designed as an economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 10,000 in the U.S., shuttered millions of small businesses and upended daily life.

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As of Wednesday afternoon, the Small Business Administration reported receiving more than 275,000 applications totaling some $75 billion in loans through over 3,000 leading institutions.

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, who chairs the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee overseeing the implementation of the PPP, supports the additional $200 billion that Mnuchin has requested for the program.

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"What I don’t want to us (in Congress) to continue to do is have to come back for more," he told USA TODAY Tuesday. "Because it’s a first-come, first-served program, you have a stampede going on at banks and other lenders with small businesses afraid to get shut out before the program runs out of money."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she considers more money for the program a priority in the next round of assistance. But she told CNN Tuesday that she first wants to make sure the program does "not solidify inequality in how people have access to capital but instead benefits everyone who qualifies.

The program has had a bumpy rollout since the Trump administration began giving lenders the green light to begin accepting applications Friday.

Banks are struggling to handle a massive surge of applications for loans aimed at helping small businesses keep workers on staff and pay other bills as the coronavirus pandemic takes a growing toll on the economy.

On Saturday, Trump described the program as "flawless." On Monday, Trump acknowledged the Paycheck Protection Program had experienced "minor glitches" but that it had "gotten off to a tremendous start."

Contributing: Christal Hayes, Paul Davidson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Congress, Mnuchin weigh more for help for small business