PPP Funding:
– The Small Business Administration wrapped up the PPP Aug. 8 after approving more than 5.2 million loans, totalling $525 billion.
– The program, which changed several times after its April launch, offered businesses with fewer than 500 employees forgivable loans of up to $10 million, if 60% of the money went toward payroll.
– PPP Funding kept people out of bankruptcies this summer.
– Without additional federal relief, some experts project a flood of small-business bankruptcies this fall as the PPP money runs dry.
– A second wave of closures is expected after Labor Day weekend. (Chicago Tribune)
– On September 1 House subcommittee report found that billions of dollars in PPP loans may have been diverted to “fraud, waste and abuse” through lack of oversight from the SBA and the Treasury.
– A report issued by a House subcommittee says a lack of government oversight and accountability for the $600 billion-plus program “may have led to billions of dollars being diverted to fraud, waste and abuse, rather than reaching small businesses truly in need.”
– The investigation by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis also found that over 600 loans, totalling $96 million, went to companies that were excluded from doing business with the government because of previous violations. And more than 350 loans, worth $195 million, were awarded to government contractors with “significant performance and integrity issues,” the report said. (Chicago Tribune)
CARES Act:
– Original CARES Act has expired.
– When and if another stimulus check gets the green light, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that it would take about a week to mobilize the first payments. Speculations to some possible dates have been made, though the timeline keeps shifting.
– An estimated 9 million Americans still haven’t received the first direct payment that began in mid-April.
– The same is true for parents awaiting their $500 share for each dependent. They have until Sept. 30 to make a claim.
– The IRS will have been sending the first stimulus payments from April 15 to approximately Dec. 31, 2020, a period of 260 days. A second stimulus check that’s authorized before the end of 2020 could still be paying out funds to qualified recipients through the first half of 2021. (Cnet)
