As the original June 30 deadline passed for small businesses to apply for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Senate and House worked quickly to unanimously pass an extension proposal. This past Saturday, President Trump signed the extension allowing businesses to apply for assistance through August 8, 2020.
How this Impacts Businesses Who Have Not Applied for Paycheck Protection Program
With $130 billion in funding remaining (out of $600 billion allocated), businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic shutdown who have not yet applied for PPP can still do so under this extension. PPP can be used to subsidize payroll, rent, mortgage interest and utilities. (These federal loans can be forgiven if businesses use at least 60% of the funds for payroll.)
Businesses Who Have Already Applied for Paycheck Protection Program
Those businesses that have applied for the PPP loan will be unaffected by this extension. This is merely an extension of the program application deadline, and businesses may only have one application under this current program.
What’s Next for SBA Programs
The PPP loans were intended to cover approximately two and a half months of typical costs for small businesses. It is anticipated that Congress will be working over the next month on other small business programs, as there are still many needing additional help. Senator Marc Rubio noted that “it has become clear that longer-term support is needed” and the programs will need to be repurposed to better serve the challenges businesses are facing now, several months into the pandemic.
