Additional Money and Coverage of CARES Act

On April 23, 2020, the federal House of Representatives followed the Senate in passing the nearly $400 million new coronavirus support bill, including another $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”) established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act passed in March, and an increase in the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from $10 billion to $20 billion. The PPP, which originally had $350 billion, ran out of money quickly and the additional funds will not go very far. The new bill will fund applications that were approved but not funded because of the lack of funds and many small businesses have submitted or are submitting additional applications. About $60 billion is set aside for businesses that do not have exiting relationships with Small Business Administration approved financial institutions as required by the program. There is also money for hospitals and testing. But some Democrats argued that the bill did not go far enough and some Republicans were exercised by the process. It is said to be signed this week.