Dem Senator Cardin Blocks Additional Funding for Payment Protection Program, Which He Helped Author

Update: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) objected to Leader McConnell's move to legislate additional funding for Paycheck Protection:

Cardin calls the effort to pass the funding today a "political stunt."
Cardin was one of the co-authors of the original emergency small business loan program
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) April 9, 2020

Sen. Cardin was one of the original authors of the Paycheck Protection Program.

Original Post: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), under the advice of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, seeks to pass additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which was rolled out last week. PPP legislates $350 billion in forgivable loans for small businesses during COVID-19. Leader McConnell announced earlier this week that the Senate will pass legislation to pump more money into this bipartisan program, as the program alleviates the economic distress hitting our small business sector.

Paycheck Protection is highly bipartisan, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) signaled that they will delay passage of additional funding for PPP unless their list of demands is met:

NEW … PELOSI AND SCHUMER GO BIG … The dem ldrs say they want

— 100 bn for hospitals
— 150bn for state and locals
— 15% more in SNAP benefits
— of the 250bn, they want 125bn targeted for farmers, family, women, minority, vet-owned biz in rural, tribal, suburban and urban areas
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 8, 2020

In sum, DEMS upping from just 250b in small biz relief to at least a half-trillion dollar bill.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 8, 2020

McConnell and GOP say the most urgent need is small businesses - and cash for the rest that Dems outlined were addressed in stimulus and is not yet spent. GOP says wait until next bill to deal with those. Dems say there should also be some changes to small business loan program
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 9, 2020

If more funding is not legislated to PPP, the small business relief program will run out of money. Sen. Schumer and Speaker Pelosi’s list is largely unrelated to small business; the demands sought by the pair of Democratic leaders fall under the recently passed CARES Act, not Paycheck Protection.

The ink barely dry on the $2.2 trillion dollar Cares Act, money largely not yet out the door (except for PPP), and Schumer and Pelosi to seek more spending for spendings sake. We need to make sure what we have already done works as intended. Then, fill the gaps. https://t.co/rtYjcTe69v
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) April 9, 2020

16.6 million Americans filed for unemployment in less than a month and Senate Dems plan to punish small biz owners - a vital source of employment for service industry and people in more rural areas https://t.co/EPeinC0H2j
— Jesse Hunt (@JJHunt10) April 9, 2020

With the paycheck protection loans running out fast, McConnell and the administration moved to pass extra funding.

Pelosi and Schumer and blocking it for another list of priorities that were addressed in the last bill with money that hasn’t been been spent yet. https://t.co/SMIy4EqF51
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 9, 2020

Small businesses are bearing the brunt of the economic stress during COVID-19, as many struggle to keep their doors open. PPP passed with bipartisan support, and is a highly uncontroversial relief for Americans in the small business sector. By blocking additional funding for PPP, Sen. Schumer and Speaker Pelosi continue to put partisanship over the American worker.

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