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Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler today called on congressional leaders to immediately reconvene the U.S. House of Representatives and pass legislation to extend the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) allowing Southwest Washington’s employers to apply for a second round of forgivable PPP assistance.

In the letter, Herrera Beutler highlights the positive impact of the PPP, which has supported nearly 9,000 small businesses and preserved over 95,000 jobs throughout Southwest Washington. With more than $130 billion left in the PPP program that is currently inaccessible, Herrera Beutler is pushing for swift congressional action to bring relief and assistance to small businesses who need it most.

“I urge you to utilize this weekend’s special session or reconvene the House immediately after to pass legislation that would extend PPP. This legislation should also revise PPP by allowing qualified employers to take out a second PPP loan, and clarify original congressional intent that PPP funds should not be taxable.  

“With such clear need, billions of dollars left in the PPP program that is currently inaccessible, and a pandemic that will likely last multiple months more, Congress must act now. Please do not allow political gamesmanship or election-year posturing get in the way of doing everything it can to prevent mass business closures and layoffs across America,” Herrera Beutler wrote.

The full text of the letter follows and a PDF is available here.

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy,

While Congress has been adjourned for August recess, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has lapsed and left countless businesses without the ability to apply for assistance.  I urge you to bring the House back from recess to pass a bill that would extend the PPP, which still has more than $130 billion in funds to lend, and allow employers to apply for a second round of forgivable PPP assistance.

The role the PPP has played in supporting small businesses in Southwest Washington cannot be overstated; nearly 9,000 businesses in my district received between $800 million and $1 billion in PPP loans that has helped preserve more than 95,000 jobs. More than 8,000 of those employers received PPP loans under $150,000, which means a vast majority of the beneficiaries from the PPP are the Main Street businesses and mom-and-pop operations that hold our communities together. 

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic persists and continues to compel state and local governments to put restrictions on businesses that are devastating their bottom lines. Many public health experts expect that our economy and way of life will not return to normal until a vaccine is deployed, which the most optimistic projections say will likely not happen until 2021. While a vaccine should be part of our calculations, we must prepare for the necessity of a second round of PPP loans until that happens.  

I urge you to utilize this weekend’s special session or reconvene the House immediately after to pass legislation that would extend PPP. This legislation should also revise PPP by allowing qualified employers to take out a second PPP loan, and clarify original congressional intent that PPP funds should not be taxable.  

With such clear need, billions of dollars left in the PPP program that is currently inaccessible, and a pandemic that will likely last multiple months more, Congress must act now. Please do not allow political gamesmanship or election-year posturing get in the way of doing everything it can to prevent mass business closures and layoffs across America.