On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. As part of this act, the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) was created to help small businesses with normal operating costs. 349 billion dollars in forgivable loans was allocated to this program. The loan proceeds were designated to cover payroll costs, most mortgage interest, rent, and utility costs over the eight week period after the loan is made.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) was clear in who was eligible to receive these loans. One of the important requirements was that businesses have 500 employees or less. Planned Parenthood, with 1,200 employees, somehow managed to procure 80 million dollars of loan money for 37 of its affiliates, including two Ohio abortion providers.
Planned Parenthood clinics fraudulently applied for loans by considering themselves independent operators, rather than being counted under the larger Planned Parenthood umbrella. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), “Applicants will count their own employees (including anyone employed on a full-time, part-time, or other basis) and employees of their “affiliates” (as defined by the SBA rules), and will exclude independent contractors.”
https://www.cooley.com/news/insight/2020/2020-03-29-sba-programs-under-cares-act. The SBA considers entities “affiliates” of one another when one controls or has the power to control the other, or a third party controls or has the power to control both. Importantly, the SBA’s conceptions of affiliation and control are more expansive than they are in the corporate context and in other legal regimes.”
https://www.cooley.com/news/insight/2020/2020-03-29-sba-programs-under-cares-act. Planned Parenthood's affiliates surely fall into this category and should have been ineligible for any PPP loan. Interestingly, Planned Parenthood itself realized this when on March 25, Planned Parenthood Action—the lobbying arm of the organization—issued a statement noting that the CARES Act, “gives the Small Business Administration broad discretion to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates . . . and deny them benefits under the new small business loan program.”
https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/explainer-planned-parenthood-urged-to-return-80-million-in-
Currently, US senators are demanding that Planned Parenthood affiliates return the funding. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), chair of the Senate small business committee, said, “Those funds must be returned immediately. Furthermore, the SBA should open an investigation into how these loans were made in clear violation of the applicable affiliation rules."
