business Congress Passes $484 Billion Package to Help Small Businesses and Hospitals April 22, 2020 In light of the paycheck protection program running out of funding last week, Congress has passed a $484 billion package to help small businesses and hospitals in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. *Editor's Note: This blog has been updated as of April 24, 2020 with the latest guidance. In the latest effort to help small businesses and hospitals dealing with adverse impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, Congress has reached a deal on a relief bill that will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to affected businesses. Lawmakers reached a deal on April 21, 2020, less than a week after the Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money last Thursday. The President signed it into law April 24, 2020. What’s inside the legislation? The bill replenishes the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and authorizes the program to spend an additional $310 billion. The program’s funding ran dry earlier this month, which prompted deep concern from the business community. Check out our blogs on the PPP:How do You Apply for the PPP?PPP FAQsPPP FAQs Part 2PPP: What To Do After You Have AppliedOf the $310 billion, $60 billion will be set aside for smaller lending facilities (includes community financial institutions, small insured depository institutions and credit unions).The bill provides $75 billion for hospitals and healthcare providers dealing with coronavirus expenses and resulting revenue loss. Also, an additional $25 billion will be allocated to facilitate and expand COVID-19 testing. $11 billion of the 25 will be allocated to states and localities to develop, purchase, administer, process and analyze COVID-19 tests. The remainder will be given to other entities to invest in new technologies to distribute to labs.The bill also provides $10 billion for grants under the Emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and $50 billion for disaster recovery loans.What’s the status of the bill? The Senate approved the bill April 21, 2020. The House approved it April 23, 2020. From here, it moved to the President’s desk, and he officially signed the bill into law April 24, 2020. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions and check out our Coronavirus Resource Center in the meantime.
