CBA-Led Streamlined Forgiveness Effort a Win for Small Businesses

CBA-Led Streamlined Forgiveness Effort a Win for Small Businesses

-Streamlined forgiveness amounts to approx. $7 billion in addition small business relief-

 

The COVID-19 stimulus legislation passed by Congress will streamline the forgiveness process for about 85 percent of small businesses who received Paycheck Protection Program loans. Simplifying the forgiveness process for loans less than $150,000 will amount to the equivalent of $7 billion of additional small business relief, according to independent analysis.

 

The Consumer Bankers Associations has been leading a coalition of business owners, non-profits, business trade groups and financial services associations in pushing for the passage of streamlined forgiveness similar to bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.).

 

“This is a victory for millions of small businesses,” CBA President and CEO Richard Hunt said. “Instead of worrying about bureaucratic paperwork, businessmen and women can focus on reopening, growing local economies and paying their employees. Banks across the country are proud of the work thousands of bankers have done during this pandemic to distribute decades of small business loans in a matter of months and look forward to continuing to work with these businesses – the backbones of communities – to help heal the economic damage caused by this pandemic.”

 

CBA-Led Coalition on Streamlined Forgiveness:

 

• “In order to help our nation’s smallest businesses, we urge Congress to quickly pass this legislation that would forgive PPP loans of less than $150,000 upon the borrower’s completion of a simple, one-page forgiveness document. PPP loans of $150,000 and under account for 86 percent of total PPP recipients, but less than 27 percent of PPP loan dollars. Expediting the loan forgiveness process for many of these hard-hit businesses will save more than $7 billion dollars and hours of paperwork.” – Coalition Letter, July 9

 

• “Small businesses and their employees are the backbone of our nation’s economy and communities. Their time and resources would be better focused on getting the economy safely back up and running, not processing burdensome paperwork.” – Coalition Letter, July 31

 

• “The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), established by Congress, provided millions of small businesses the economic relief they needed to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19crisis. Now that the program has ended, small business owners and nonprofits are facing the challenges of reopening local economies in a time of uncertainty, retooling their businesses, working to protect the health of both customers and employees, and serving the needs of the community. Small businesses across the country are facing the time-consuming and costly process of applying for PPP loan forgiveness.” – Coalition Letter, September 17

 

• “Banks and businesses have complained that the forgiveness process for PPP loans, which started this month, is too onerous. According to a September report by the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog for the U.S. Congress, a loan forgiveness application could take some borrowers 15 hours to complete, and a complex application could take a bank 50-75 hours to review.” – Reuters, October 9

 

What Small Businesses Are Saying About Streamlined PPP Forgiveness:

 

• “Businesses are now facing a lengthy, complex stack of government forms to apply for forgiveness. It’s estimated the process can cost up to $4,000 and require 20 to 100 hours of work. When I first received the forms, I thought to myself ‘there must be a better way’ … Luckily, a bipartisan group in Congress thought the same thing and introduced legislation to streamline the forgiveness process for loans less than $150,000. I’d like to thank Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr and Reps. Dan Bishop and Ted Budd for supporting this legislation.” – Jenny Bradley, North Carolina
• “My colleagues and I spent more than 100 hours interpreting the current forgiveness guidance … Luckily, a bipartisan group in Congress is working on another option by pushing legislation to streamline the forgiveness process for the smallest PPP recipients. Louisiana U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy are part of this coalition … Immediate congressional action will help small businesses and local economies continuing to battle the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.” – Mandy Solomon, Louisiana
• “A new, bipartisan bill in Congress called the Paycheck Protection Small Business Forgiveness Act would help small businesses recover while providing owners with much-needed relief … The last thing we need to be spending our time and resources on right now is filling out lengthy, bureaucratic paperwork.” – Clint Harris, Delaware
• “The loans have been extremely beneficial in keeping our economy moving, but with no end in sight from this virus, our elected officials must continue working to help small businesses survive … [PPP streamlined forgiveness legislation] is simple, smart, and has the capability to help millions of Americans.” – Steve Waatti, Montana 

 

More information on PPP forgiveness is available here.

 

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About the Consumer Bankers Association:

The Consumer Bankers Association represents America’s leading retail banks. We promote policies to create a stronger industry and economy. Established in 1919, CBA’s corporate member institutions account for 1.7 million jobs in America, extend roughly $4 trillion in consumer loans and provide $275 billion in small business loans annually. Follow us on Twitter @consumerbankers.