WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) joined Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, highlighting the need to open the Federal Reserve’s Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPP Facility”) to non-bank community financial institutions, including all certified community development financial institutions (CDFIs). The Fed’s PPP Facility provides financial backing to lenders of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a new federal program under the CARES Act that provides forgivable loans based on employee retention to small businesses nationwide.
“We understand the Federal Reserve is working to expand eligibility to the PPP [Liquidity] Facility, and we urge the Federal Reserve to make the PPP Facility available to nonbank community financial institution lenders, including certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), so that underserved businesses can get access to this critical capital,” wrote the Senators. “We request that the Federal Reserve move quickly to open the PPP Facility to nonbank community financial institutions, including all certified CDFIs, and provide immediate access to all licensed SBA 7(a) lenders that are CDFIs or subsidiaries of CDFIs to the Facility. These entities have a proven track record of SBA lending and of working with disadvantaged borrowers. Providing them with access to the PPP Facility will help ensure that our nation’s most vulnerable businesses will get access to needed capital.”
Read the Senators’ full letter here.
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