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Metro Creative Connection

Higgins: Paycheck Protection Program extended

Tue, Mar 30th 2021 04:45 pm

Application deadline now May 31

Congressman Brian Higgins announced the Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act (H.R. 1779) has been signed into law, extending the application deadline to May 31, 2021.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly difficult on our community’s small businesses, forcing them to make tough decisions as they navigate their financial future,” Higgins said. “This bill helps to alleviate pressure by giving struggling businesses additional time to apply for much-needed relief.”

The extension gives small businesses two additional months to apply for relief through the PPP program.

The Small Business Administration also announced it launched a new tool to address “hold codes,” which have been a point of frustration for many businesses. A system designed to catch fraudulent applications was also blocking many eligible business small applicants from completing the PPP application process.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Higgins has been a supporter of expanding and extending PPP, which acts as a bridge for businesses that retain employees and their salaries. Earlier this month, he announced the passage of the American Rescue Plan, which included an expansion of PPP to nonprofit organizations struggling from the cost of the pandemic. Small business relief specifically targeted to restaurants and shuttered venues was also included in the American Rescue Plan. Additional details on applying for those two programs will be made available through the SBA in April.

For addition information about PPP or the application process, visit the SBA’s website at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program.

In response to the extension providing an additional 30-day period for the SBA to process applications that are still pending, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said: “Today, President Biden sent another strong message to America’s more than 30 million small business owners negatively impacted by the pandemic: Help is here. By signing the PPP Extension Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act into law, the president is providing additional critical relief to the smallest of the small businesses – the mom-and-pop shops that line our main streets and keep our local and regional economies going.

“The leadership of the Biden-Harris administration, working with leaders of the House Small Business Committee, Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, and Ranking Member Blaine Luetkemeyer, Reps. Carolyn Bourdeaux and Young Kim, and Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Susan Collins, ensured a strong bipartisan vote to extend this critical relief to hard-hit small businesses. More than 8.2 million PPP loans have provided struggling small businesses with the relief they need to keep workers employed and make ends meets during this pandemic. The SBA remains dedicated to reaching the heart and soul of the nation’s urban, rural, and low-income communities – the smallest businesses – and removing barriers to access this vital relief.” 

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