CONGRESS UPDATES KEY PORTIONS OF PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM

Congress has sent an important piece of legislation to President Trump’s desk that includes key changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to grant more flexibility for businesses to meet the program’s repayment requirements. Key changes include:

• the 8-week period that businesses have to restore staffing levels to pre-pandemic levels is expanded to the earlier of 24 weeks or December 31, 2020;
• the rule that businesses must spend 75 percent of their loan on payroll has been changed to 60 percent. The remaining 40 percent can be spent on other forgivable expenses without reducing the forgivable amount of the loan;
• loan terms extended from two years to five years;
• program availability is extended from June 30, 2020, to December 30, 2020;
• clarifies the ability of PPP recipients to take advantage of employer-side payroll tax deferrals established in the CARES Act.

Read more about PPP repayment requirements here.

Improving the repayment requirements of PPP has been a key priority for GLI. Earlier this week, GLI President & CEO Sarah Davasher-Wisdom wrote to members of the greater Louisville congressional delegation, urging Congress to make changes to the program.

“Due to causes outside of their control, many PPP recipients in our region have expressed grave uncertainty about whether they will meet the program’s strict and often complex forgiveness requirements. GLI urges Congress to ease forgiveness requirements for PPP recipients and create more flexibility in how businesses can have their loans forgiven. This will help prevent future business closings and future economic damage.” – GLI President & CEO Sarah Davasher-Wisdom.

Read more about GLI’s letter to members of our regional congressional delegation here.