Letter to Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader - Senators Markey and Warren Call for "robust" Covid-19 Small Business Relief in Budget Package
Letter
Dear Leader Schumer and Leader McConnell,
We are writing to express strong support for a robust small business relief package to be included
in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 spending package. As Congress works to finalize the FY2022
spending package, we urge you to include economic relief for small businesses that have been
impacted by the ongoing health and economic crisis caused by the spread of the novel
coronavirus (COVID-19) and most recently, the Omicron coronavirus variant. Specific sectors in
Massachusetts, such as restaurants, hotels, travel, gyms, live entertainment, and others businesses
are struggling to stay afloat.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) and the
American Rescue Plan Act (P.L.117-2) provided vital funding for our nation's small businesses
through the creation and funding of critical programs like the Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP), the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant Program, the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan
Program (EIDL), and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). These programs administered
by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offered a life raft to small businesses across
the nation and in Massachusetts. In 2021, the SBA oversaw the distribution of nearly $416.3
billion in emergency relief aid to more than 6 million impacted small businesses.
However, these programs were quickly depleted, leaving countless small businesses without aid
to survive this winter and the recent COVID-19 surge brought on by the Omicron variant. Many
of the small businesses left without aid are women and minority owned businesses who already
bore a disproportionate burden of the negative economic downturn from COVID-19 and now
face greater disadvantages compared to businesses who did receive funding from the limited
available amounts.
A January 2022 survey by the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) found that 58 percent of
businesses nationwide reported that their sales decreased by more than half in December 2021
and 49 percent of businesses that did not receive RRF were forced to lay off staff because of a COVID-19 related closure or lack of sales. Additionally, small businesses have suffered
financially when they have been forced to reduce hours or close temporarily in response to
positive cases among employees or as a preventative measure. Even in Massachusetts, where our
restaurant industry was well positioned to apply for and receive considerable RRF aid compared
to other states, less than 40% of applicants were able to access this much needed funding.
While we are grateful for the historic investment in our nation's small businesses by the CARES
Act and American Rescue Plan Act, the need for aid has been far greater than the funding
provided by Congress. The COVID-19 pandemic has not ended and neither should the relief for
small businesses. We support the inclusion of a small business package in the FY2022 spending
package that addresses the urgent need of small businesses. Investments like these will help
small businesses protect their workers, pay rent, pay the bills, cover their loans, and ensure that
they can survive this "new normal".
Small businesses are the engine of Massachusetts's economy. Massachusetts is home to over
715,000 small businesses that employ 1.5 million people. These small businesses account for
99.5 percent of Massachusetts businesses. If small businesses do not run, the economy does not
run. Congress must be committed to ensuring that we adequately respond to our immediate needs
while also charting a path to a genuinely healthier and more equitable future through a just
recovery.
Our nation's small businesses cannot wait any longer for additional relief, we again urge you to
include small business relief as part of the FY2022 funding package. Thank you for your
immediate consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Source