U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) issued the following statement on the Senate passing $475 billion in emergency funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, COVID-19 testing, and health care providers today:
“I am grateful the Trump Administration and Senate Republicans were able to once again overcome the stonewalling of Democrats who want to hold funding for the Paycheck Protection Program hostage to advance their priorities. While not perfect, this is a popular, bipartisan, and well-executed program. We also appropriated more resources for health care providers and COVID-19 testing, which will be critical for reopening our economy.”
Senator Cramer and his Senate Republican colleagues spoke with President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin about this deal on Sunday. It includes $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, with $60 billion set aside for small banking institutions and new language clarifying eligibility for agricultural enterprises. Today’s package also contains $50 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), $10 billion for EIDL Advance grants, $75 billion for hospitals, and $25 billion for testing.
Senator John Hoeven issued the following statement after the Senate approved legislation providing additional funding for small businesses, health care providers, hospitals and COVID-19 testing. Hoeven spoke with President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about the agreement on Sunday and is urging the House to pass the vital funds as quickly as possible. As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to include a provision to ensure that farmers and ranchers are eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Emergency EIDL Grants.
The agreement provides additional funding, including:
- $310 Billion for the Paycheck Protection Program
- $60 Billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Emergency EIDL Grants
- $50 Billion for EIDL
- $10 Billion for Emergency EIDL Grants
- At Hoeven’s request, includes language making agricultural enterprises eligible for EIDL and Emergency EIDL Grants
- $75 Billion for Hospitals and Health Care Providers
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$25 Billion for Additional COVID-19 Testing
- Includes a $750 million set-aside for tribes
- North Dakota will receive over $16.2 million for testing needs under today’s agreement.
“Now that the Senate has approved this agreement, the House should approve it quickly, so we can get these vital funds out to our health care providers, hospitals and small businesses,” said Hoeven. “These resources will support testing and health care workers so we can beat the coronavirus, as well as important funding for small businesses to pay their employees and expenses during these challenging times. As the Chairman of Ag Approps, I secured a provision to make farmers and ranchers eligible for EIDL to provide producers with another option for assistance during these challenging time.”
Paycheck Protection Program, $310 Billion: The agreement provides $310 billion in additional funding for the PPP, which was created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help small businesses and self-employed individuals to maintain payroll through forgivable, federally-guaranteed loans.
The agreement includes an additional $60 billion for Community Financial Institutions, community banks, credit unions, and smaller financial institution to administer PPP loans, with $30 billion for financial institutions with between $10 and $50 billion in assets and $30 billion for institutions with less than $10 billion in assets to make PPP loans in their communities.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and EIDL Emergency Grant, $60 Billion: The agreement provides an additional $50 billion for the Small Business Administration’s EIDL program, which provides small businesses with loans of up to $2 million. It also provides an additional $10 billion for Emergency EIDL grants, which provide loan advances of up to $10,000 to cover a wide range of expenses. The loan advance does not have to be repaid.
- Farmer and Rancher Eligibility: The agreement includes a provision Hoeven pushed to clarify that farmers and ranchers with less than 500 employees are eligible for EIDL and Emergency EIDL Grants. Hoeven worked with the Senate Small Business Committee to secure the provision and contacted the SBA Administrator to make the case for agriculture producers to be eligible for EIDL.
During the call on Sunday with the President and Secretary Mnuchin, Hoeven also spoke about the importance of:
- Advancing assistance for agriculture producers, including the $19 billion in agriculture assistance announced on Friday.
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Supporting the Energy Industry by:
- Approving Hoeven’s legislation to provide $3 billion for purchasing domestically-produced crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
- Urging Secretary Mnuchin to work with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on the 13(3) lending program to ensure it works for the energy industry.
- Providing flexibility for North Dakota to utilize State Response Funds, $1.25 billion provided to the States in the CARES Act, to relieve pressure on its state unemployment insurance program.
- Supporting Native American communities and allowing tribal casinos to utilize the PPP.
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