Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the PPP Extension Act of 2021. I'm pleased to be joined in introducing this bill by my colleagues, Senators Cardin and Shaheen. Last March, the three of us, along with Senator Rubio, formed a Small Business Task Force that crafted the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)--a forgivable loan program designed to help keep small employers afloat and their employees paid during the pandemic. The bipartisan bill that we are introducing today would simply extend the current application deadline for new PPP loans from March 31st to May 31st of this year, and then provide an additional 30-day period during which time the Small Business Administration may continue processing applications received prior to the new May 31st deadline. Representatives Velazquez, Luetkemeyer, Bourdeaux, and Kim (CA) have introduced a companion bill in the House.

The PPP has been hugely successful in helping our Nation's small businesses and nonprofits survive the pandemic and continue paying their employees. In 2020, more than five million small employers received forgivable PPP loans, helping to sustain upwards of 50 million American jobs. This includes more than 28,000 Maine small businesses, who received nearly $2.3 billion in forgivable PPP loans.

Recognizing the importance of this program for our Nation's small employers, the bipartisan December 2020 COVID-relief law provided an additional $284.5 billion to reopen the Paycheck Protection Program and allow the hardest hit small employers to receive a second forgivable loan. The December law also made other improvements to the PPP, such as expanding forgivable overhead expenses to include supplier costs and investments in facility modifications and personal protective equipment needed to operate safely.

Since reopening in January, more than two million additional forgivable loans--totaling nearly $165 billion--have been approved for small businesses across the Nation. In Maine, more than 10,000 small employers have been approved for more than $692 million in forgivable loans since PPP's reopening. In total, Maine small employers have been approved for nearly $3 billion in forgivable loans since the program was created last year.

I have heard from countless small employers about the impact this program has had on them and their employees. The owner of Shipyard Brewing Company in Portland told me that without the relief that PPP provided, his company would be bankrupt. The Ecology School, a non- profit environmental education program in Saco, would have had to lay off the majority of its staff without the support of two forgivable PPP loans. I've heard from the owners of Jeff's Catering in Brewer, the Poland Spring Resort, and the Hamilton Marine in Searsport that PPP helped keep their businesses alive and their employees paid.

With the ongoing distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and the promise of warmer weather throughout the Nation, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We're not there yet, which is why we need to extend the deadline to apply for new loans. Extending the deadline would also help address concerns I continue to hear from Maine small employers about delays in the processing of new loan applications because of difficulty in resolving error messages generated by the Small Business Administration computer system.

By extending the PPP for another two months and then providing an additional 30 days after that time for the SBA to process applications that are still pending, this bill would help our Nation's small employers retain access to forgivable PPP loans. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Thank you, Mr. President.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source