House Expected To Approve PPP Changes

A bipartisan proposal to improve the terms of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is expected to face a House vote next week.

The measure would make the popular forgivable loan program more flexible and extend the timeline for using the money, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday (May 20), Bloomberg News reported.

This bill is separate from the follow-up $3 trillion relief measure which passed the House last week amid Republican opposition. It provides money for cash-strapped state and local governments, a second direct payment to Americans, hazard pay for front line workers, more money for coronavirus testing and a temporary rollback of the cap on state and local tax deductions.

Republicans have voiced support for the PPP changes this week, the news service reported.

“Businesses are starting to reopen their doors, and if they had a few more weeks they could rehire everybody,” Sen. Marco Rubio, the small business committee chairman, said during an American Enterprise Institute event Tuesday (May 19).

The Senate may be able to get unanimous consent to make the changes this week and send legislation to the House, a Senate aide told the news service.

Under the revised PPP, eligible businesses could use the forgivable loans on payroll for more than the eight weeks under the original program and relax a requirement that 75 percent of the loans be used for payroll.

It was introduced by Minnesota Democrat Dean Phillips and Texas Republican Chip Roy.

“We must redesign the Paycheck Protection Program to make it accessible to everyone, from food trucks, to four-star restaurants, to your favorite music venue,” Phillips told Bloomberg. “While the PPP has helped millions of small businesses keep their lights on, millions more remain on the outside looking in.”

Pelosi has said the amended PPP legislation has a very good chance at passage.

“I think public opinion will very much be our friend in this,” she said.