Cartwright Statement on House Passage of Relief Bill for Small Businesses, Hospitals

Statement

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) issued the following statement after voting in favor of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 266), COVID-19 response legislation to provide supplemental funding for the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for small businesses, as well as additional funding for hospitals and novel coronavirus testing. It passed the House by a vote of 388-5 and now advances to the president for signature.

"We need to make sure small business relief actually gets into the hands of small businesses," Cartwright said. "It's clear that much more will need to be done quickly, but we have set aside $60 billion in this bill for smaller lenders to help our very small businesses that don't have the advantage of close relationships at big banks."

During the negotiations, Cartwright fought to provide small businesses that do not have accounts at banks with access to emergency funding opportunities in order to help them stay afloat and keep employees on payroll. As a result, this legislation includes $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions as well as $30 billion for medium-sized banks and credit unions.

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