LAFAYETTE, LA – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) is working to resolve issues with the implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which is designed to help small businesses maintain their workforce and cover overhead costs for up to eight weeks.
Some of the issues being addressed include:
- Application and processing capacity;
- Delayed or incomplete guidance from SBA, Treasury;
- Lender certification process through SBA;
- Access to SBA’s loan processing system;
- Additional funding for PPP.
Congressman Higgins issued the following statement:
“We’re addressing problems with both the borrowing and lending components of the Paycheck Protection Program. This is one of the largest financial programs in the history of the world, and we’ve had one week to implement it. We knew there were going to be problems, glitches in the process. However, there was an urgent need to get financial relief operational and begin pushing that economic relief down into main street. We had to get the machine running and focus on making improvements as we move forward. Nothing like this has ever been done before not to this scope or in such a short amount of time. America needed assurance that help was coming, and President Trump’s administration has worked around the clock to stand up massive financial rescue to all American businesses with a very aggressive launch schedule.”
“Our community banks and credit unions are working tirelessly to get their own branches operational. Their goal, of course, is to serve their communities. Day-by-day, things are getting better. Access to financial relief is getting smoother. Hang in there. We’re all in this together.”
“My office is communicating daily with the Small Business Administration, Treasury Department, House Leadership, Louisiana Bankers Association. I’ve participated in dozens of calls with the Executive branch, hundreds of stakeholder calls, and countless calls with individual constituents. We are aware of the obstacles that many small business owners and banking institutions are facing. My office has listened very carefully and acted with a dedicated focus on those concerns, and President Trump’s administration has been incredibly receptive of our feedback. We’re also negotiating additional funding to ensure Treasury and SBA are capable of meeting small business needs. We recognize that the CARES Act and Small Business Administration financial relief program launch had problems, has problems, and we’re on it. We will not stop working. Every day into the late nights, we’re on the job. America, we’re going to get through this. We are strong. We are one. We are America United.”
More information for small businesses and lending institutions is available here.
