SBA and Treasury Announce Simpler PPP Forgiveness for Loans of $50,000 or Less
The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, today released a simpler loan forgiveness application for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $50,000 or less. This action streamlines the PPP forgiveness process to provide financial and administrative relief to America’s smallest businesses while also ensuring sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
“The PPP has provided 5.2 million loans worth $525 billion to American small businesses, providing critical economic relief and supporting more than 51 million jobs,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “Today’s action streamlines the forgiveness process for PPP borrowers with loans of $50,000 or less and thousands of PPP lenders who worked around the clock to process loans quickly,” he continued. “We are committed to making the PPP forgiveness process as simple as possible while also protecting against fraud and misuse of funds. We continue to favor additional legislation to further simplify the forgiveness process.”
“Nothing will stop the Trump Administration from supporting great American businesses and our great American workers. The Paycheck Protection Program has been an overwhelming success and served as a historic lifeline to America’s hurting small businesses and tens of millions of workers. The new form introduced today demonstrates our relentless commitment to using every tool in our toolbelt to help small businesses and the banks that have participated in this program,” said Administrator Jovita Carranza. “We are continuing to ensure that small businesses are supported as they recover.”
SBA and Treasury have also eased the burden on PPP lenders, allowing lenders to process forgiveness applications more swiftly.
SBA began approving PPP forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to PPP lenders for PPP borrowers on October 2, 2020. SBA will continue to process all PPP forgiveness applications in an expeditious manner.
Click here to view the simpler loan forgiveness application.
Click here to view the instructions for completing the simpler loan forgiveness application.
Click here to view the Interim Final Rule on the simpler forgiveness process for loans of $50,000 or less.
INFORMATION FROM THE CDC
Learn more about the virus, how to protect yourself, and how to prevent the spread:
UPDATE: On April 23rd, 2020, Congressman Bergman voted in support of H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. Rep. Bergman spoke on the House floor in support of the bill and highlighted the specific needs of rural small businesses and health care providers. This bill will appropriates more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.
For more information about the Paycheck Protection Program or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, visit the Small Business Administration resource page HERE.
Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may call (800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
The deadline to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan is Dec. 21, 2020.
For more information about available SBA resources and services, please visit: SBA.gov/coronavirus
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has posted additional Questions and Answers regarding implementation of certain provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
SEASONAL BUSINESSES
In response to advocacy efforts from Rep. Bergman on behalf of seasonal businesses impacted by the Coronavirus, the Department of Treasury and SBA issued new guidance providing additional flexibility for seasonal small businesses. The calculation for the maximum loan available through the Paycheck Protection Program has been modified to accommodate businesses whose seasons begin later in the Spring/Summer.
Effective immediately on April 27, 2020, the PPP loan calculation can now be based on the payroll average from a consecutive 12-week period between May 1, 2019 – September 15, 2019. Previously, all loan calculations were based on a 12-week period beginning February 15, 2019, or at the election of the eligible borrower, March 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2019.
Veterans with symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath should immediately contact their local VA facility. VA urges Veterans to contact VA before visiting – you can find contact information for yourclosest VA facility or call call MyVA311(844-698-2311, press #3 to be connected). Alternatively, Veterans can sign into My HealthVet to send secure messages to their VA providers or use telehealth options to explain their condition and receive a prompt diagnosis.
Upon arriving at VA, all patients will be screened for flu-like symptoms before they enter in order to protect other patients and staff. A VA health care professional will assist you with next steps once this screening process is complete.
At this time, VA is urging all visitors who do not feel well to please postpone their visits to VA facilities.
HELP FOR OLDER ADULTS
In addition to the practices outlined by the CDC, older Americans are uniquely at risk from Coronavirus and have specific needs that should be addressed.
The Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) recommends that older adults:
Stay in touch with others by phone and email so you can ask for help from friends, family, neighbors, or community health workers if necessary;
Determine who can provide for you with care if your caregiver becomes ill;
Consider using a mail-order pharmacy to fill routine prescriptions;
Have extra over-the-counter medicines, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, and food on hand should you become sick.
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impact the United States, phone scammers have seized the opportunity to prey on consumers.
The federal government is offering expanded financial assistance to Americans as we work to defeat the novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, scammers don’t sleep – even in the face of a global pandemic.
Emphasize the words “Stimulus Check” or “Stimulus Payment.” Those are incorrect. The official term is economic impact payment.
Ask the taxpayer to sign over their economic impact payment check to them.
Ask by phone, email, text, or social media for verification of personal and/or banking information saying that the information is needed to receive or speed up their economic impact payment.
Suggest that they can get a tax refund or economic impact payment faster by working on the taxpayer’s behalf. This scam could be conducted by social media or even in person.
Mail the taxpayer a bogus check, perhaps in an odd amount, then tell the taxpayer to call a number or verify information online in order to cash it.
The FCC Offers The Following Tips to Avoid Scammers:
Do not respond to calls or texts from unknown numbers, or any others that appear suspicious.
Never share your personal or financial information via email, text messages, or over the phone.
Be cautious if you’re being pressured to share any information or make a payment immediately.
Scammers often spoof phone numbers to trick you into answering or responding. Remember that government agencies will never call you to ask for personal information or money.
Do not click any links in a text message. If a friend sends you a text with a suspicious link that seems out of character, call them to make sure they weren't hacked.
Always check on a charity (for example, by calling or looking at its actual website) before donating
Scammers are offering COVID-19 tests, cures, or even Social Security benefit increases. Be advised: government agencies will NEVER ask for your personal and financial info over a text message, email, or phone call. If you receive a text message, email, or phone call offering financial assistance or services, free test kits or vaccines, or warning you of an outbreak, it is probably a scam.
Likewise, legitimate government agencies will never require secrecy, request payment via gift cards or prepaid debit cards, or threaten you with arrest or legal action. If you find yourself in a situation like this, don’t respond, hang up, and never offer or confirm your personally identifiable information.
THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!
You receive a phone call from a number you haven’t seen before, and you pick up the phone. Once on, the caller tells you they’re from the Department of Health and Human Services, and that you’ve been selected to receive a free test kit. In order to receive your test, they need to get some of your information first. Maybe they ask some benign questions, but then they ask for your Social Security number, address, or banking info. DON’T FALL FOR IT. THIS IS A SCAM.
LEGISLATION SUPPORTED
PHASE ONE
On March 4, 2019, Rep. Bergman voted in favor of H.R. 6074, the Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Package, which provides $8.3 billion in emergency spending for response to the Coronavirus. This money will go towards expediting vaccine development, purchasing essential testing equipment and supplies, and coordinating extensively with healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. It also includes measures to expand access to telehealth services and ensure future vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 are affordable.
For information on the legislation passed March 4th, please click HERE.
PHASE TWO
On March 14, Congress passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a second emergency supplemental funding bill to provide further assistance to those who have been directly affected by the Coronavirus and its economic impact. This legislation provides for free testing, makes good on President Trump’s promise to provide financial assistance for working Americans who are “ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to Coronavirus,” protects seniors and those with severe medical conditions by ensuring the Social Security Administration is not running a new paid leave program for those affected by COVID-19, and ensures the health provisions are targeted to COVID-19 without including unrelated treatments, ensuring Hyde protections remain intact.
For more information on the legislation passed on March 14th, please click HERE.
PHASE THREE
On March 27, Congress passed the CARES Act, providing essential, targeted, and temporary action for First District families, rural health care providers, small businesses, self-employed workers, and non-profit organizations.
The CARES Act includes major provisions to:
Provide grants and loans to small businesses to meet payroll and pay rent;
Send direct checks to First District constituents of up to $1,200 individually, plus $500 per child;
Rush resources to rural hospitals, doctors and other front line providers;
Expand the use of telehealth medicine to diagnose and treat patients in a safer and faster environment;
Temporarily expand unemployment insurance to provide a lifeline for those who have lost their jobs;
Allow regulatory relief so banks can grant loan forbearance for otherwise healthy businesses struggling while business has been shut down;
Provide Treasury and the Fed the ability to provide several trillion in assistance to distressed industries, including airlines, through guaranteed loans while also including strong accountability protections;
Provide liability protection for providers who volunteer (Good Samaritan);
Allow HSAs to be used to purchase over-the-counter medicines;
Extend expiring health extenders to November;
Inject key funds to care for Veterans and their families;
Build out broadband infrastructure and telehealth capabilities in rural and remote areas; and
On March 23rd, Congressman Bergman introduced legislation (H.R. 6335) to stop IRS tax penalties on Seniors who do not make a required minimum distribution (RMD) from their qualified out of their tax-deferred retirement savings plans in 2020. Read more HERE.
Congressman Bergman is also a cosponsor of H.R. 6365, the Immediate Relief for Rural Facilities and Providers Act of 2020. Many of the rural and remote hospitals and health centers throughout Michigan’s First District are facing financial crises as costs to address the epidemic rise while revenue from elective surgeries and non-emergency clinical visits plummet. This legislation will protect these essential healthcare centers by providing emergency one-time grants to Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and rural Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals to account for lost revenue during the crisis. It would also increase Medicare reimbursement for certain services and allow the Small Business Administration to provide low-interest loans to providers and ambulatory surgery centers during the crisis.
On March 21, President Trump signed into law a bill cosponsored by Rep. Bergman to protect Veterans' GI Bill benefits during the Coronavirus. This legislation will give the VA Secretary authority to maintain normal payments for Veterans and family members to ensure their current GI Bill payment rates are not negatively affected by the sudden shift to online classes. Read more HERE.
