Upton Praises Changes To PPP Rules

washington-42
washington-42

Congressman Fred Upton says small businesses hit by COVID-19 will get a break now that Congress has updated the rules of the federal Paycheck Protection Program. He was a champion of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, which extended the amount of time allowed for small businesses to meet certain criteria for their loans to be converted into grants.

“Here were are now, more than eight weeks into the plan, we’re still just beginning to open up in a lot of states,” Upton told WSJM News. “A lot of those small businesses aren’t anywhere close to being up to speed where they want to be, and the last thing we want to saddle them with is an anchor that says, ‘You owe all of that money back.”

The legislation extends loan forgiveness beyond the original eight week timeline and eliminates restrictions limiting non-payroll expenses to 25% of loan proceeds. Upton says more small businesses that got assistance won’t have to pay their loans back due to the changes. The bill passed the U.S. House last week on a vote of 417 to one.