House Committee Approves Extending PPP Deadline to May 31
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Small Business Committee has reached an agreement to extend the Paycheck Protection Program by two months.
The deal will allow the Small Business Administration to delay the deadline to apply for funds through May 31 and allow the agency to process applications for 30 days after that.
The agreement will head to the House of Representatives, which could vote on extending the Paycheck Protection Program before it adjourns until mid-April. A larger hurdle exists in the Senate, where its passage may be hampered by the need for a vote to bypass a floor debate and expedite its passage.
The agreement between committee chairwoman U.S Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York and ranking Republican Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri comes as some banks – including Bank of America, the second-largest lender through the program – have stopped taking applications out of concern that they wouldn’t be approved by the March 31 deadline set in the most recent coronavirus relief bill.
As of March 7, the newest round of the PPP funding has seen 2.4 million loans approved for $164.95 billion. Combined with the first round in 2020, there have been 7.5 million loans totaling $687.37 billion.
According to the SBA, 1.9 million of the 5.2 million PPP loans made in 2020 have been forgiven, with 250,000 forgiveness applications under review as of March 4.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
