Wyden, colleagues seek data on how small business relief funds are being distributed

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin, D-Md., U.S Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a senior member of the Senate Small Business Committee, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sent a letter Friday to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin urging the administration officials to provide American taxpayers with data on how small business relief funds are being distributed.

The letter comes on the heels of Senate Republicans’ refusal to negotiate with Senate Democrats, who have proposed hundreds of billions in additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Emergency Grants Program. The programs have both run out of funding.

“Funding for both of these bipartisan programs must be replenished. Millions of small businesses and non-profits are desperate for the assistance offered by the PPP and EIDLs,” the senators wrote. “As Congress works to provide critical funding for these programs, we write to ask that you provide additional data and information about how loans and grants have been distributed.”

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act appropriated $377 billion to support small businesses through PPP, the EIDL and Emergency Grants Program, and the Debt Relief Program, which will pay all interest and principal payments on new and existing SBA-backed 7(a), 504, and microloans for six months.

The senators requested the following information to learn how PPP funds are being disbursed:

Number and amount of loans disbursed to small businesses, including a breakout of loans by state, demographics, industry and loan size;

Number and amount of loans disbursed to businesses under the NAICS 72 exception, including a breakout of loans by state, demographics, and loan size;

Number and amount of loans provided to non-profits and religious institutions, including a breakout of loans by state, industry, and loan size; and

Number and amount of loans disbursed broken out by lending institution, including a breakout of loans by state, demographics, industry, and loan size.

The senators requested the following information to learn how EIDL and EIDL Grant funds are being disbursed:

Number and amount of loans disbursed to small businesses, including a breakout of loans by state, demographics, industry, and loan size;

Number and amount of grants disbursed to small businesses, including a breakout of loans by state, demographics, industry, and grant size;

Number and amount of loans and grants provided to private non-profit organizations, including a breakout by state, industry, and loan and/or grant size; and

Estimated funding necessary to provide loans and grants to meet applicant demand.

The senators also requested data outlining the total loan dollars and number of borrowers in the Debt Relief Program, as well as confirmation that lenders have suspended borrowers’ payments.

Click here to download a PDF of the letter.