VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Second District Congresswoman Elaine Luria is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill that would provide more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.
The bill—Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act (H.R. 6506)—would provide up to $900 billion in additional funding to the program.
The program provides small businesses and nonprofits forgivable loans to cover payroll and other costs.
The program would allow businesses to "automatically renew the terms of their PPP loan to get coverage for an additional eight week periods and defer repayment of any remaining loan balance for the duration of the pandemic," according to a news release.
“I joined this bipartisan effort to replenish funding for the Paycheck Protection Program because small businesses across Hampton Roads are relying on economic relief programs to weather this crisis,” Luria said in the news release.
“As a former small business owner, I know that our federal response must prioritize public health while investing in small businesses and their employees so that we can more quickly recover from this public health crisis.”
Rep. Luria supported the CARES Act, which established the Paycheck Protection Program.
The Small Business Administration announced last week that they are no longer accepting applications for COVID-19 relief loans due to a depletion of funding.