Urgently Needed Funds To Small Businesses, Hospitals

Dear Friends,

While Congress is coming back into session on Monday, May 1, I was in Washington last week to support H.R. 266, The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act that expands help for small businesses, hospitals and testing. The interim emergency funding package will provide the emergency resources that are desperately needed to sustain frontline healthcare workers, small businesses, and our communities.

Unfortunately, some of the funds allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program in the first CARES Act were made accessible to large corporations. These are businesses that were going to float, but still grabbed all the life vests, leaving small-and medium-sized businesses to drown. Critically, in this supplemental package, we must ensure that funds allocated for small businesses are made accessible to small businesses alone – I did not go to Congress to allocate funds for corporate greed, while the American people suffer.

For a list of community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions that have access to PPP funds, click HERE. You can also address any questions to my small business liaison Mr. Xeron Pledger by e-mailing him at Ga04.SmallBusiness@mail.house.gov.

Democrats worked to ensure the package did not leave behind hospitals and health workers and made sure to aid the survival of the most vulnerable small businesses on Main Street. The $484 billion Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act will:

• Strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program with $310 billion in additional funding, with $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions and $30 billion for medium-sized banks and credit unions. It expands small business support beyond PPP by securing $50 billion for SBA disaster lending, translating into more than $350 billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA disaster grants. It also secures strong protections to ensure that our nation's farmers have access to this vital assistance.

• Protect hospitals and health care workers: Democrats secured $75 billion to provide resources to the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment.

• Provide $25 billion for testing, which is the key to reopening the economy and resuming our lives.

As always, I appreciate your time and feedback. Please remember you can reach me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as e-mails, phone calls and letters. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to represent you in Congress. Please continue following CDC guidelines during this difficult time.

And by the way, I'll be participating in a Fair Count's Sisters for the Census and Black Men Count Facebook series today at 2 PM called Undercounted: Young, Black and Fed Up, which is geared toward young Black people living in America who may not feel seen or heard and therefore are not sure about participating in the 2020 Census or the November elections. To participate or share with friends: https://www.facebook.com/faircountgeorgia/.