Photo: U.S. Senator Gary Peters
Recently, the Senate unanimously passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act to provide greater flexibility for small businesses receiving Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. This legislation, which was signed into law of June 5 by President Donald Trump, contains critical updates to the PPP that will provide small businesses in Michigan more time and flexibility to use their forgivable loans to retain employees and maintain everyday operations.
Specifically, this legislation will:
- Extend the loan forgiveness period from 8 weeks to 24 weeks, or to December 31, whichever comes first.
- Allow businesses to use more resources on non-payroll expenses.
- Eliminate restrictions on new loans that limit the loan terms to 2 years.
- Provide complete access to payroll tax deferment for businesses that receive PPP loans.
- Add flexibility to and extend the deadline for PPP rehiring requirements.
“This builds on other changes made to the PPP that I’ve championed,” said U.S. Senator Gary Peters.
“I also have worked to ensure that resources from this program are available to underserved communities, including rural communities and minority-owned businesses,” Peters added. “That’s why I led the push for the Treasury Department to set aside $10 billion for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to participate in the PPP. This specific pool of funding will help support the organizations that work every day to help small businesses and consumers in communities of color. I will keep working to make sure that minority small business owners have the resources needed to not only stay afloat, but emerge even stronger from this crisis.
Peters said he was going to continue working in a bipartisan way to ensure Michigan small businesses, which are critical engines of economic growth, have the resources and help they need.
More information about federal resources that may be available for small businesses is available at https://www.peters.senate.gov/coronavirus/small-business-information.
