WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin backed the push for new legislation to help the U.S. economy pull out of the recession during a key Senate Panel on Wednesday.
What You Need To Know
- White House says more help is needed to keep economy afloat
- Lawmakers considering 2nd round of forgivable loans, other relief options
- RELATED: Some Small Businesses Concerned About Unclear Guidance on Paycheck Protection Program
This comes as lawmakers are evaluating further changes to small business aid programs to help those still reeling from the impact of the coronavirus.
“I think we are going to need another bipartisan legislation to put more money into the economy,” Mnuchin said while testifying before the Senate Small Business Committee.
Mnuchin said more help is needed to keep the economy afloat, but the aid must be targeted. Mnuchin and Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza appeared before a key panel as lawmakers evaluate current small business loan programs and consider additional aid.
“The single most successful thing the federal government has done to respond to COVID-19 has been the PPP program,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), chairman of the Small Business Committee in an interview with Spectrum News.
Rubio, the architect of the loan program, said there’s evidence it helped boost recent job numbers. However, lawmakers continue to push for more information about who has benefitted from the program.
“How can we know which businesses still need help if we don’t know which businesses have received help?” asked Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland).
“We believe that’s proprietary information and in many cases for sole proprietors and small businesses is confidential information,” Mnuchin responded.
The program has excluded any business owner convicted of a felony within the past 5 years from getting a PPP loan as well as those who have been charged but not yet convicted. Lawmakers on both sides want to change that.
“Do you believe an individual who has started a business, contributing to the local economy, is creating jobs, who has prior unrelated convictions should really be barred from participating in the PPP program?” asked Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey).
“We want to work with you to fix this and fix it as quickly as possible,” Mnuchin replied.
As the focus turns from survival to recovery, members floated a number of ideas. Some are pushing for the smallest small businesses to get a second round of forgivable loans. Others are proposing to use leftover PPP funds to help businesses hurt as a result of recent protests. Although, lawmakers on both sides overwhelmingly called on officials to simplify the loan forgiveness process.
“We don’t want to create more stress and more burden on small businesses that are already facing the stress and burdens that come from reopening,” Rubio said.
Small businesses interested in loans via Paycheck Protection Program have until June 30 to apply.
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