By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff
The U.S. Senate passed a bill by unanimous vote to provide companies more flexibility on the use of funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the bill which now goes to President Trump to be signed into law. Highlights of the “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act” include:
- Extends from 8 weeks to 24 weeks the period of time for PPP expenses to be forgiven and extend the rehiring deadline to December 31;
- Increases from 25 to 40 percent the amount of nonpayroll expenses (such as rent, utility payments and mortgage interest) eligible for loan forgiveness;
- Extends the expiration date of the program from June 30 to December 31;
- Increases the amount of time before loans payments begin from 6 months to 1 year; and
- Extends loan terms from two to five years.
The SBA is still accepting PPP loan applications. As of June 3, the SBA had processed 4.5 million loans for a total of $511 billion of $660 billion of total program funding currently available. Under the current program, the two-year SBA loans offer a 1% annual interest rate issued through banks and local lenders. The SBA will forgive that portion of the loan used to cover payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities for eight weeks if a small business retains its employees and payroll levels. Visit SBA PPP Loans for more information.
Questions? Contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.