Moolenaar Supports More Funding for Michigan Workers and Their Paychecks

Today, the Small Business Administration announced that the historic Paycheck Protection Program that launched on April 3 has used all of the funding provided by the CARES Act that passed Congress on March 27. In just two weeks, the SBA has made millions of loans to save the jobs of small business owners and their employees.

This includes more than 25,000 small business loans in Michigan worth more than $7 billion dollars. Without additional funding passed by Congress, more Michigan small businesses will be unable to apply for the loans.

Last week, Senate Republicans tried to unanimously pass an additional $250 billion for the program but the attempt was blocked by Democrats who are demanding that the bill include items unrelated to the Paycheck Protection Program. When the CARES Act passed in March, Senate Democrats demanded the legislation include funding for the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. because one of the Democratic senators is an honorary trustee there.

"The Paycheck Protection Program is saving the jobs and paychecks of Michigan workers and helping small businesses," said Congressman John Moolenaar. "Now is the time to pass more funding for this program and prevent layoffs like the 219,000 that happened in Michigan last week. I hope Democrats will stop trying to add unrelated items to a new bill and immediately agree to new funding so more Michigan workers will keep their jobs and receive their paychecks instead of being sent to the state's overwhelmed unemployment system."

The Paycheck Protection Program gives Michigan small businesses loans for payroll costs, rent, utilities and mortgage payments. The loans are forgivable if small businesses keep their employees on the payroll through June 30, 2020. This ensures Michigan residents keep their jobs and small businesses have the employees they need to re-open when the public health crisis subsides.

Headlines From When Democrats Blocked More Funding for the Payment Protection Program Last Week