周二当天结束时，小企业主将被排除在约1340亿美元的薪酬保障计划(PPP)资金之外，尽管午夜是通过该计划申请可宽恕贷款的最后期限。
国会似乎不会采取任何措施来确保这些资金仍然可用，但在周二晚些时候，参议院出人意料地一致同意将购买力平价延长至8月8日。延期仍需众议院批准。
公私伙伴关系是政府应急工作的基石冠状病毒经济救济计划。根据小企业管理局的数据，近480万笔贷款已经发放给了因流感大流行而面临倒闭的小企业，总额超过5180亿美元。如果企业符合一些准则，包括使用60%的贷款来维持员工的工资，这些贷款是可以原谅的。
但是国会已经为该项目额外拨款1340亿美元，由于各种原因，企业无法获得该项目。
为了让企业能够在未来几周内申请这笔资金，国会需要通过立法，要么延长该计划的最后期限，要么启动该计划的下一阶段。这两项努力似乎都不太可能在周二成功，以确保资金持续可用，也不清楚这两项努力是否会在为期两周的7月4日假期国会休会开始前成功。
“鲁比奥主席重新召集了两党小型企业工作组，致力于就支持小型企业的下一阶段达成一致。参议院小企业委员会主席马尔科·卢比奥办公室在周一对美国广播公司新闻的声明中说:“两党工作组目前正在努力就最终协议达成共识。”。
2020年6月10日，参议院小企业和企业家委员会主席查理曼·马尔科·卢比奥在华盛顿特区的听证会上聆听
该委员会的高级成员、民主党参议员本·卡丹(Ben Cardin)提议立法，允许最小的小企业获得第二轮公私合作融资，并将申请截止日期延长至12月，或小企业管理人乔维塔·卡兰萨(Jovita Carranza)认为合适的任何时候。这个想法是针对那些仍然需要帮助的企业:少数族裔拥有的企业、员工少于100人的企业，以及自接受第一轮购买力平价贷款以来尚未复苏的服务业和零售业。
财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦星期二作证说，两党都支持扩大购买力平价，并把它瞄准受打击最严重的企业。他说，预计立法将在7月底完成，这意味着该计划从7月1日开始直到通过将会有一段时间。
“我认为，参议院似乎有两党的支持，将1300亿美元用于购买力平价，将其扩展到受打击最严重的企业，这些企业要求其收入大幅下降——比如餐馆和酒店等，在这些地方，让人们重返工作岗位至关重要，”穆努钦说。
他说:“我已经和参议院的小型企业管理局委员会讨论过重新调整1350亿美元的用途，我认为应该这样做，我期待着和参众两院共同努力，以便我们能在7月底之前通过立法。”。
2020年4月28日，在白宫东厅举行的关于薪酬保护计划的新闻发布会上，唐纳德·特朗普总统在小企业管理局局长约维塔·卡兰萨(左)和财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦(右)的陪同下。
数十亿美元仍然可用的事实并不一定表明小企业不需要它。尤其是对许多小企业来说那些由独资经营者或在经济落后地区经营的企业，他们可能无法接触到会计专业人士或获得贷款的经验，获得购买力平价资金的过程过去是，现在仍然是令人生畏的。其他小企业在申请贷款时犹豫不决，因为豁免准则已经改变了多次，而长期的大流行意味着许多企业觉得自己无法达到60%的工资门槛。
美国东部时间下午1点收听美国广播公司，美国东部时间下午4点收听美国广播公司新闻直播，美国广播公司全体新闻团队将对这种新型冠状病毒进行特别报道，包括最新新闻、背景和分析。
据该机构称，尽管资金需求仍然存在，但它不会简单地被任何其他小型企业管理局项目重新吸收或展期。国会必须决定如何重新分配它。
“国会和政府将考虑如何使用剩余资金的建议。拨给公私营伙伴关系的资金不会结转到常规的小型企业管理局7(a)贷款基金(小型企业管理局的贷款计划，在COVID之前就已经存在)或任何其他小型企业管理局计划，”小型企业管理局的一名地区发言人告诉美国广播公司新闻。
On last day for small businesses to apply for PPP, $134B remains in emergency relief fund
At the end of the day Tuesday, small business owners will be locked out of approximately $134 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and despite the midnight deadline to apply for a forgivable loan through the program.
It didn’t appear Congress was going to do anything to ensure the funds will remain available, but in a surprise move late Tuesday, the Senate unanimously agreed to extend PPP through Aug. 8. The extension still needs to be approved by the House.
The PPP is a cornerstone effort of the government's emergencycoronaviruseconomic relief plan. Nearly 4.8 million loans have been granted to small businesses faced with shutdowns due to the pandemic, totaling more than $518 billion, according to the Small Business Administration. The loans are forgivable if businesses meet a few guidelines, including using 60% of the loan to keep employees on payroll.
But Congress has allocated an additional $134 billion for the program that businesses have not been able to access, for a variety of reasons.
In order for businesses to be able to apply for that money in the coming weeks, Congress would need to pass legislation to either extend the deadline for the program, or create the next phase of the program. It seems unlikely that either effort will succeed Tuesday, to ensure the funds are continuously available, and it's also unclear if either effort will succeed before a two-week congressional recess for the July 4th holiday kicks off.
“Chairman Rubio has reconvened the bipartisan small business task force to work towards an agreement on the next phase of support for small businesses. The bipartisan task force is currently working towards consensus on a final agreement on a deal,” Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Marco Rubio's office said in a statement to ABC News Monday.
Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chariman Marco Rubio listens during a hearing on June 10, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the ranking member on that committee, has proposed legislation that would allow the smallest of small businesses to obtain a second round of PPP funding, and extend the application deadline through December, or whenever Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza sees fit. The idea is to target the businesses that still need help: minority-owned businesses, businesses with fewer than 100 employees and industries like hospitality and retail that have yet to recover since receiving the initial round of PPP loans.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified Tuesday that there’s bipartisan support to extend PPP and target it to the most hard-hit businesses. He said expects legislation by the end of July, which means there will be a lapse in the program from July 1 until it is passed.
“I think that there's, there appears to be bipartisan support in the Senate to repurpose the $130 billion for PPP, extending it to businesses that are most hard hit, that have a requirement that their revenues have dropped significantly -- things like restaurants and hotels and others, where it is critical to get people back to work,” Mnuchin said.
“I've already had conversations with the SBA committee in the Senate about repurposing that hundred $135 billion and think that should be done, and look forward to working with both the House and the Senate so that we can pass legislation by the end of July,” he said.
President Donald Trump is flanked by Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza, left, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a press briefing about the Paycheck Protection Program in the East Room of the White House, April 28, 2020.
The fact that billions are still available does not necessarily indicate small businesses have no need for it. For many small businesses, especiallythose run by sole proprietors or in economically disadvantaged areas, which may not have access to accounting professionals or experience obtaining loans, the process to receive PPP funding was, and continues to be, daunting. Other small businesses were hesitant to apply for the loans as forgiveness guidelines shifted multiple times, and the prolonged pandemic meant many businesses felt they could not meet the 60% payroll threshold.
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Though need still exists for the money, it does not simply get re-absorbed or rolled over for any other SBA programs, according to the agency. Congress must decide how to re-appropriate it.
"Congress and the Administration will consider proposals of how to use the remaining funds. The dollars appropriated for the PPP do NOT get rolled over to regular SBA 7(a) loan funding (SBA's loan program that existed before COVID) or any other SBA program," a regional spokesperson for the SBA told ABC News.
