SENATE PASSES $484 BILLION CORONAVIRUS RELIEF PACKAGE
On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the U.S. Senate voted on and passed the newest coronavirus aid bill, which includes funding for small businesses, hospitals and coronavirus testing.
This announcement comes almost two weeks after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that small businesses don’t need to worry about not being able to receive funding from the U.S. government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What is included in the new bill?
The bill provides $484 billion in total funding. Of those funds, $320 billion would replenish the federal small business loan program, the Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of funds last week. The Paycheck Protection Program was initially created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and was designed to get cash in the hands of suffering small businesses quickly, with less stringent eligibility requirements than the existing SBA loan programs. Paycheck Protection Program loans are designed to incentivize business owners to keep employees on their payroll.