Senator John Kennedy anticipates Congress will authorize additional funding for a Small Business Administration loan program designed to prop up companies during the coronavirus shutdown. The 349-billion dollar Paycheck Protection Program is so popular that Kennedy says more dollars are needed.
“We’re likely, if my Democratic friends go along, to add another 250 billion dollars for small business relief,” says Kennedy.
Companies that qualify the loan can have it partially, or fully forgiven if it is used mostly to maintain payroll.
The Senate isn’t scheduled to meet again for several weeks, but Kennedy says this legislation could get passed by “unanimous consent” so that Congress could abide by social distancing guidelines.
“But it only takes one person to object, and if somebody objects I’m going to get on an airplane and go to Washington D.C., it’s my job,” says Kennedy.
Kennedy says it’s a lot of money to throw around but it’s vital it be done so that the economy can be saved. He says COVID-19 kills, but so does poverty.
“As we saved lives we now have to save livelihoods. We just have to get money to people, the whole economy is shutting down,” says Kennedy.