WASHINGTON – Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH) is pushing to ensure small businesses are able to access the remaining funds allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In a letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and House Committee on Small Business, Balderson and a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers emphasized the need for America’s small businesses to access PPP funds to stay afloat through the COVID-19 pandemic and remain open in the future.

“The economic consequences of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has left small businesses across the nation in need of assistance to ensure their continued survival,” Balderson’s letter writes, citing PPP and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program as “a critical lifeline” for these small businesses.

Since Congress established PPP through the CARES Act relief package in late March, nearly 5 million small businesses across the country, including more than 140,000 in Ohio have received PPP loans to ensure small business employees remain paid during the pandemic. Balderson worked to replenish these funds in April and earlier this month, his bipartisan legislation to extend PPP through August 8, 2020 was signed into law.

According to the National Federation of Independent Business, 71% of small business owners nationwide have used their entire PPP loan, while “46% of borrowers say they anticipate needing additional financial support in the next six months.”

Balderson’s letter acknowledges that priority for the remaining PPP funding should be given to “small businesses – particularly minority, women-owned, rural, and veteran-owned – that have yet to receive their first round of PPP funds.” Considering the dire need for America’s small businesses – like those in Ohio’s 12^th Congressional District – to receive additional federal assistance to remain afloat for the foreseeable future, Balderson’s letter urges congressional leaders to include language in the next federal relief package to allow small businesses that have already received PPP funding to be eligible for additional aid, after funding is distributed to small businesses that haven’t yet received a PPP loan.

“It is our belief the country’s future economic health depends upon as many innovators on Main Street and the nearly 60 million Americans they employ emerging from this pandemic,” his letter writes. “As our country heads into continued months of uncertainty, and as states reopen and then quickly reclose due to increased spikes of new coronavirus cases, it is imperative that federal assistance for small businesses adapt just the same.”

Last month, Balderson launched his “Back to Business” tour around Ohio’s 12^th Congressional District to meet with small business owners who have received loans through either PPP or EIDL. His tour highlights the relief these businesses and their employees have experienced by receiving this aid, which helped keep hundreds of thousands of Ohioans on payroll during the pandemic.

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