小企业主很快将不再能够获得可原谅的贷款来帮助他们的员工支付工资，并在冠状病毒大流行期间继续营业。
国会议员和特朗普政府周三在如何补充资金的问题上仍处于僵局，民主党和财政部之间的两党讨论未能达成一致。
按照目前的工资保护计划的消耗速度，预计资金将在周四告罄。该计划由国会在2万亿美元的刺激计划中拨款3490亿美元，以便企业可以获得大约两个月的运营和工资成本减免。截至周三中午，超过152万名申请人获得了超过3240亿美元的资助，剩下大约7%。
据小企业管理局称，该计划启动不到两周，资金就迅速耗尽，在不到14天的时间里批准了超过14年的贷款。
共和党人和民主党人正提议采取紧急支出措施来挪用更多资金，这让他们陷入了一个尚未打破的僵局。
参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(纽约州)和财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin)周三上午发表了讲话，众议院议长南希·佩洛西(加利福尼亚州)和舒默的工作人员周三下午与财政部官员进行了谈话，试图达成一项两党协议。谈判未能达成协议。
佩洛西和舒默的民主党高级助手说，与财政部的讨论将于周四继续。共和党人抨击民主党人，指责他们“阻挠将是解雇通知书和停业。”
参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(共和党参议员)说:“看到我们的民主党同事把为美国人的薪水提供紧急资金当作共和党的优先事项来对待，真是令人震惊。)和众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在一份联合声明中说如果没有其他补充，对劳动人民至关重要的帮助对民主党人来说就不够有吸引力，这种观点对他们的优先事项发出了奇怪的信息。"
4月13日，宾夕法尼亚大道上几乎没有车辆往来，因为国会大厦倒映在一个雨水坑里。冠状病毒的爆发让立法者回家，并使首都的商业几乎完全停止。
共和党人想为小企业救济再拨款2500亿美元，没有附加条件。民主党人支持额外的援助，但要求其中1250亿美元要有条件，比如确保包括社区银行，这样小企业主就不会像报道的那样，拒绝与他们没有关系的大机构。这些条件还要求贷款的一部分流向女性、退伍军人、少数民族或农民拥有的企业。
佩洛西在一份声明中说，为了让救援计划“成功，它必须为每个人服务”她重申，共和党的版本在她的议会中将缺乏支持。
民主党人还希望医院和地方医疗设施获得1000亿美元，州和地方政府获得1500亿美元，食品券福利增加15%。
舒默周三在接受记者采访时表示，地方和州政府以及医院“同样需要”获得更多资金，否则将有“数百万人”失业。包括市议会成员和市长在内的一群来自全国各地的当地民主党领导人请求更多的帮助。他们警告说，可能不得不进一步裁员。
“没有联邦政府的援助，我们将很难维持维持我们社区安全和健康的重要服务，”俄亥俄州代顿市市长南·威利在周二的电话会议上告诉记者。她说她所在的城市已经被迫解雇了479名员工，约占其劳动力的28%。
众议院多数党领袖斯坦尼·霍耶(民主党医学博士)认为民主党的资金请求是“合理的”，并认为他的共和党同事对谈判的“过程”比对民主党提案的“实质”更不满。
“我知道有一些共和党人认为，他们可以支持建立州、地方和部落政府的要求是合理的，”他在电话中告诉记者。
两边拒绝了对方的提议上周在参议院，他们至今拒绝改变立场。共和党人指责他们的对手不必要地推迟紧急拨款，因为他们希望从2万亿美元的刺激法案中拿出更多的政府部门和经济资金。
国会可能会在本周结束前通过立法，由少数议员一致同意，因为议员们将留在自己的选区，在5月4日之前不会返回华盛顿。一致同意不需要反对。参议院下一次会议将于周四召开，众议院将于周五召开。
SMALL-BUSINESS LOANS PROGRAM TO RUN OUT OF MONEY THURSDAY AS CONGRESS REMAINS DEADLOCKED
The owners of small businesses will soon no longer be able to receive forgivable loans to help keep their employees paid and the lights on amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of Congress and the Trump administration remained at an impasse Wednesday over how the funds should be replenished, with bipartisan discussions between Democrats and the Treasury Department failing to produce an agreement.
At the current rate of depletion for the Paycheck Protection Program, which was allotted $349 billion by Congress in the $2 trillion stimulus so that businesses could receive roughly two months of relief for operating and payroll costs, funds are expected to run dry on Thursday. As of midday Wednesday, more than 1.52 million applicants were approved to receive over $324 billion, leaving roughly seven percent remaining.
The rapid exhaustion of money came less than two weeks since the program launched, approving more than 14 years' worth of loans in less than 14 days, according to the Small Business Administration.
Republicans and Democrats are proposing dueling emergency spending measures to appropriate more money, leaving them at a stalemate they've yet to overcome.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke Wednesday morning, while staffers of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Schumer spoke with Treasury officials Wednesday afternoon in an effort to reach a bipartisan deal. The talks failed to produce a deal.
Senior Democratic aides for Pelosi and Schumer said the discussions with Treasury will continue Thursday. Republicans blasted Democrats, accusing them of "obstruction will be pink slips and shuttered businesses."
"It has been stunning to watch our Democratic colleagues treat emergency funding for Americans' paychecks like a Republican priority which they need to be goaded into supporting," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a joint statement. "The notion that crucial help for working people is not appealing enough to Democrats without other additions sends a strange message about their priorities."
Vehicle traffic is almost nonexistent on Pennsylvania Avenue as the Capitol is reflected in a rainwater puddle on April 13. The coronavirus outbreak has sent lawmakers home and brought the business of the nation’s capital to a nearly total halt.
Republicans want to allocate $250 billion more for the small-business relief, no strings attached. Democrats support the additional aid but are demanding that $125 billion of it comes with conditions, such as ensuring it includes community banks so smaller business owners aren't turned away from larger institutions they have no relationship with, as is reportedly occurring. The conditions would also require that portions of the loans go to businesses owned by women, veterans, minorities or farmers.
Pelosi said in a statement that in order for the relief program to "succeed, it must work for everyone." She reiterated that the GOP version would lack support in her chamber.
Democrats also want $100 billion for hospitals and local medical facilities, $150 billion for state and local governments, and a 15 percent increase for food stamp benefits.
On a call with reporters Wednesday, Schumer argued there is "just as much need for" local and state governments, as well as hospitals, to receive more money or else there will be "millions more people" who are out of work. A group of local Democratic leaders from across the country, including city council members and mayors, have pleaded for more help. They've warned that further staff cuts could have to be made.
"Without assistance from the federal government, we will struggle to maintain the vital services that keep our community safe and healthy," the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, Nan Whaley, told reporters on a call Tuesday. She said her city has been forced to furlough 479 employees, or roughly 28 percent of its workforce.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) characterized Democrats' funding requests as "reasonable" and felt his GOP colleagues were more upset by the "process" of the negotiations than the "substance" of the Democrats' proposal.
"I know there are some Republicans who believe the request for states and local and tribal governments is a reasonable one they could support," he told reporters on a call.
Both sides rejected each other's proposals last week in the Senate, and they've so far refused to budge from their positions. Republicans have accused their counterparts of unnecessarily delaying the emergency funding over a desire to give more sectors of the government and economy money from the $2 trillion stimulus legislation that has yet to run out.
Congress could pass legislation by week's end with a handful of lawmakers giving unanimous consent, as members remain in their home districts and won't return to Washington before May 4. Unanimous consent would require no objections. The Senate next convenes on Thursday, and the House will do so Friday.
