WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, announced her co-sponsorship of the Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards a Recovery in Twenty-twenty (RESTART) Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Todd Young (R-IN). This legislation would create a new loan program to help small and mid-sized businesses as well as non-profits cover 6 months of payroll, benefits, and fixed operating expenses.
“The coronavirus pandemic has impacted countless small and mid-size businesses in Nevada, forcing doors to shutter and putting jobs and families at risk,” said Senator Rosen. “Those hardest hit by the economic impacts of COVID-19 are in need of immediate help, and the RESTART Act would do just that. By providing additional loans and support, this legislation will allow businesses and non-profits to keep their doors open and help ensure employees receive a paycheck during this critical time. I will continue working in Congress to support Nevada businesses and protect the lives and livelihoods of all Nevadans.”
BACKGROUND: The RESTART Act would create loans that cover 6 months of payroll and other operating expenses for businesses and nonprofits with 5,000 or fewer employees and with a decline in revenues of at least 25 percent. For businesses or nonprofits experiencing revenue decline of at least 80 percent, the loans would provide an extended 12-month forgiveness period. Additionally, under the bill:
- No interest payments would be due in the first year, no principal payments due for the first two years, and additional deferral would be available for economically-distressed firms;
- Smaller businesses with fewer than 500 employees would receive more favorable terms on loan forgiveness;
- Nonprofits would be eligible for a 10-year loan with more favorable terms than private businesses, including a longer duration of up to 10 years and a lower interest for the first 4 years;
- Nonprofits with up to 500 employees would be provided an option for loan forgiveness, with the remaining loan subject to the same terms as private businesses.
Last month, Senator Rosen helped introduce and pass bipartisan legislation to extend the U.S. Small Business Administration’s authority to approve Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to small businesses through August 8, 2020. Without action from Congress, the PPP would have expired at midnight on June 30th.
Earlier this week, Rosen introduced the bipartisan Ensuring Increased Disaster Loans (EIDL) for Small Businesses Act, legislation to assist the nation’s small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic by providing an additional $180 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs. The bill, co-led by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), also would prohibit the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from arbitrarily capping EIDL loans below $2 million – the threshold set by Congress – and require SBA to provide $10,000 EIDL Advance grants to all eligible small businesses, regardless of size, as intended by the original CARES Act.
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