TOPLINE: As unemployment tops 22 million people over the past four weeks, it is unconscionable that Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer would exacerbate this horrific situation by withholding emergency assistance for small businesses.

The Paycheck Protection Program approved over 1.6 million loans, totaling nearly $350 billion in emergency assistance to small businesses. This program was one of the most direct and effective ways to keep small businesses afloat and workers on payroll throughout the course of this pandemic.

Hundreds of small businesses have shared how this lapse in PPP funding has left them in desperate circumstances on the republicanwhip.gov “SHARE YOUR STORY” web portal. These businesses are begging Democrats to stop their political games and fund the PPP now.

Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer must understand the unbearable decisions small businesses face without access to PPP funds. See stories from across the country below:

 

 

“We are about 7 days away from shutting our doors down for good and possibly declaring bankruptcy. We don’t know what else to do. I’m tired of crying myself to sleep every night wondering what tomorrow holds. Will we lose everything we worked for? Our house? Our retirement? The Democrats need to stop playing games with peoples lives from their million dollar homes with their financially secure futures. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”

—DELTA ELECTRONICS COMPANY | Harvey, LA

“I am a minority, African American woman business owner and our business is located in Central Phoenix AZ, I have been managing to keep total of my 14 employees in hopes to obtain the PPP fund so that I do not have to make the most difficult decision of laying people off, anyone, however, not getting the PPP loan will now force me to make that difficult decision, in regards to lay off’s, please my employee depends on earning income from me in an effort to keep their families going in this difficult times.”

—GJH MECHANICS LLC | Phoenix, AZ

“Program ran out of money… I cannot afford to pay my staff and had to lay them off.”

—SCHWARTZ EYE ASSOCIATES | Fort Lauderdale, FL

“Until now, I have paid my employees supplementing with my personal funds. The PPP will enable me to continue to pay them so they can pay rent, pay for car loans, etc. Without it, I will cut 4 jobs of people who have worked for me for years. Our staff is like a family and it crushes me to make this decision.”

—JWR Jewelers | ATHENS, GA

“We were sure counting on the money. We have a church and a christian school in our small town of approximately 6,000. Our school has almost 90 students on a full time basis, but since the “quarantine” we are only keeping 20-30 for the parents that are essential and must work. Additionally, our church has about 150 members and we have not been able to meet so a big portion of our donations are not coming in. We have laid off 5 part time teacher’s aids, but have to keep paying our teachers because of the contract we agreed to prior to the school. Because we are a church, our employees are not able to collect unemployment. Neither our senior pastors, nor our assistant pastor receives a salary so we are trying to help our staff. PLEASE RELEASE more SBA money!!”

—COWBOY JUNCTION | Vinita, OK

“Up to this point we have managed to keep all our employees on the payroll and have avoided all layoffs, that will change if we are unable to secure a PPP loan.”

—CHABILL’S TIRE SERVICE | BATON ROUGE, LA

“We closed our operations for 10 days and still paid my employees for 25 hours each out of my pocket even though they didn’t work. I pray that this comes through for us so that I can keep everyone on staff without having to lay anyone off.”

—Re-Bath of Augusta | Augusta, GA

“Getting this loan would be lifesaver for our business. It is imperative that the program gets proper funding.”

—FORFEX LLC | PHOENIX, AZ

“Our office has been closed, except for emergencies, for a month now. We are trying to keep people on payroll but are finding it very difficult without income. Our loan has been in for several days now but we received a letter from our bank stating the government has run out of funds. We applied for the PPP loan and the EIDL loan on Monday. Funds ran out before both loans before either was funded.”

—HALLS ADVANCED DENTISTRY & IMPLANT CENTER | SHOW LOW, AZ

“I was one of the businesses left out of the Payroll Protection Program. I am a school that teaches CDL training in Vinita, OK as well as a branch in Tahlequah, OK. I provide training in the essential workforce in the form of truck drivers and have no way to retain my instructors without this assistance. With his type of training, it is extremely hard to find the right instructors that can carry out quality instruction. I provide valuable training to companies, tribes, disadvantaged adults, and the unemployed to give people a chance to turn their lives around with a never-ending career. I simply cannot do that if I have to close; I am the only truck driving school in NE Oklahoma.”

—HEAVY METAL TRAINING INSTITUTE | Vinita, ok

“We have been closed since March 16 and as owners have gone without pay. We laid off our employees so they could collect unemployment which some are still waiting on. The PPP loan would cover payroll when we are able to reopen.”

—Brussell’s gymnastics | Columbia, sc

“I have not laid off any employee, but very close to doing so without this program. My revenue has dropped by 95%. I am using personal savings to maintain business.”

—MOHR BENEFITS | Metairie, LA

“I went to apply and thought there would not be a problem but boy I was shocked when the Bank said there was no more money. Business has came to a standstill!!”

—CLARK INSURANCE SERVICES | WINDER, GA

“I am a self-employed HR Consultant in Houston, TX providing HR leadership to organizations that do not have the employee count or budget to have a full time HR professional on staff. Because I am self-employed I had to wait until a week after all of my business clients to apply for the PPP and today I was notified the SBA is out of funds. I need help to stay in business and feed my family until this crisis is over. One of my clients can no longer pay me and the work at my other three has diminished significantly. Please implore Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to consider those in my situation, we need help.”

—HR BACKBONE | HOUSTON, TX

“We are a small, family run restaurant that has a staff of sixteen. We have had to cut our staffing down to eight and those employees work limited hours. I open and close the kitchen every day without taking a paycheck to try and keep the doors open. We are quickly approaching the hard line decision of closing our doors permanently.”

—MJ’s Grill | Columbia, SC

“I feel very bullied by Pelosi. I’m sure she’s in “no hurry” approving the extra funds… Meanwhile my husband almost had a mental breakdown yesterday. He’s had his tour-bus business for 30 years and then told the one saving hand that was within reach, one day away from having a SBA approval now went to, sorry we ran out of funds and Pelosi won’t let us deliver any more even though we have it! We’re now accumulating $200,000 in debt every month we’re closed, because of bus lease payments and bus insurance.”

—STAR COACHES | Atlanta, GA

“We are a seasonal business and our workers are planning on money during this time. Our work feeds many families and provides food on the table.”

—EXTREME FUN COMPANY | WINDER, GA

“We are a small florist in Culpeper county Virginia. These funds will help bridge the gap until we can reopen and our customers can shop.”

—Endless Creations Flower’s & Gifts | Culpeper, VA

“I didn’t apply on day one because my dental office was still closed. I know my employees are receiving unemployment benefits while we are unable to see patients. So it made no sense to me to apply and rehire them when there was no work to be done. Waiting until we were closer to our reopening date once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted proved to be fruitless since the PPP is now out of money. Now that I am able to use it as it was intended, I cannot. I feel that my employees and I are being punished for trying to be a good steward.”

—Ferrara Family Dentistry | Madisonville, Louisiana

“I have not let go of any employees as of today. I applied for this loan a week ago. I was notified by the bank today we would not be receiving the money because the government fund has been exhausted. This money is needed for payroll to keep me from laying off staff.”

—ASSURE RX CONSULTING, LLC | Pearland, TX

“We are a small family owned and operated business. Our business has been cut by 80% with no new leads for future projects. We will all soon be going on unemployment as we cannot sustain our bills in this economic crisis. Let’s help our communities and get this approved!”

—READ DESIGN | Plano, TX

“We tried to get the loan in fast but the money ran out faster.”

—Slidell family dental care | SLIDELL, LA

“I’ve worked my butt off to have a small business. I’m so worried about my employees, some are single moms. It breaks my heart that they aren’t getting paid.”

—Simplicity Salon | Venice, FL

“I have used up all reserves. If this goes into May I will have to close the office permanently.”

—Richard B Dunbar DDS | Corning, CA

“If we do not receive help, paying rent, utilities and payroll will put us under. We enjoy serving the community with our services and have a great relationship with our customer. We would hate for this to happen to us.”

—Jack’s Lock & Safe | Rosenberg, TX

“I applied for the PPP loan but then got an email that funds had run out. It would still be very beneficial to get a PPP loan to be able to return all employees to full working hours.”

—Louisiana Eye Care | Covington, LA

“We missed the funding available overnight. We are a small business that has customers cancelling orders even though our overhead remains the same. Please help!”

—Exceptional Woodworking | Phoenix, AZ

“I am currently heartbroken. My husband lost his company already through this season of COVID and I now the only income earner applied the first day for the PPP to find out there are no funds left. I am a female business owner, now the sole income earner for our family and need this to stay afloat. We don’t qualify for the $1,200 stimulus, not unemployment and then can’t get a small business PPP loan. So basically my husband and I have employed over 30 people for 5+ years. We are a hard working christian family that may lose it all.”

—W Streets | Dallas, TX

“My father-in-law passed away during the initial period for the PPP loan. I filed last week and all the loan money was gone. I truly am a small business. Please pass the additional funding. All of our small businesses in our town are suffering.”

—AT HOME IN THE SOUTH | Thomasville, GA

“My family has been in the hot dip galvanizing business for 60 years since Grandpa Bob started. We have never had a lay-off and don’t want to have one now. Our two plants in Indiana are each seeking access to these funds. We have applied but the application was denied because funds were depleted. I know there are plenty of hurting people right now and no shortage of folks that could use a helping hand. I appreciate anything that you can do to bolster this great program to ensure we keep people employed for the duration of this crisis.”

—Indiana Galvanizing | Middlebury, IN

 

BOTTOM LINE: Every day Democrats delay a standalone, clean funding bill for the Paycheck Protection Program results in hundreds of potentially permanent business closures across the United States and the destruction of countless livelihoods. What Democrats are doing is a complete scandal. Democrats must work with Republicans to pass this funding ASAP.