Congress Passes $484B Interim Coronavirus Relief Bill to Support Small Businesses, Hospitals

The House recently approved a $484 billion interim stimulus bill to further support small businesses and hospitals. And President Donald Trump signed off on the bill this afternoon. The $350 billion that was set aside to support small businesses and organizations in the original $2 trillion emergency funding package ran out.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s announced that it “is unable to accept new applications at this time for the Paycheck Protection Program or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan based on available appropriations funding.” According to SBA, 1.6 million small businesses and organizations have received funding from the Paycheck Protection Program — many are still waiting.

Due to a loophole in the original bill, big corporations, like Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse ($20 million) Shack Shake ($10 million) and J. Alexander’s ($15.1 million), were able to secure millions of dollars in SBA loans — some of which are reported “repaying” the loans back due to backlash.

The latest installment of emergency funding will include an additional $321 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $60 billion for small business-disaster loans and grants, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for COVID-19 testing.

What can nonprofits do to secure more funding in this time of uncertainty? Sign this bipartisan letter, which supports nonprofits in future COVID-19 legislation. The final deadline is April 28.

In the meantime, the Independent Sector has put together a resource on how nonprofits can apply for SBA loans — for when more funding becomes available.

Editor's Note: NonProfit PRO is closely monitoring this topic and will keep you updated as frequently as we can.