WASHINGTON – With the strong support of Congressman Vern Buchanan, the U.S. House today passed a $484 billion coronavirus response package to provide much-needed relief for America’s workers and struggling small businesses. The bill was passed by the U.S. Senate earlier this week is now on its way to President Trump for his signature.
The Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act provides an additional $310 billion for the Small Business Administration’s newly-established Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses to help keep their employees paid during the pandemic.
“Thousands of hardworking Floridians in my district and across the state are facing untold economic hardships as a result of the coronavirus,” Buchanan said. “This aid package will help keep employees on the payroll and keep small businesses afloat.”
In addition to funding for the Payroll Protection Program, the bill includes $75 billion for hospitals, providers and health care workers, $60 billion for economic injury disaster loans and grants, and $25 billion to further expand and ramp-up our testing capabilities
The Paycheck Protection Program was created last month as a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and exhausted its funding within three weeks of its creation. The program provides loans to small businesses that will be completely forgiven if used to pay workers, provide benefits or cover rent.
Since the program launched on April 3rd, it has provided payroll assistance to more than 1.6 million small businesses in all 50 states and territories, including roughly $17.8 billion in loans for nearly 90,000 small businesses throughout Florida. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin estimates that the program has already saved more than 30 million American jobs.
This is the fourth bill to address and provide relief to those affected by the coronavirus supported by Buchanan, following the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which included financial assistance for individuals, families, small and medium-sized businesses, hospitals, medical facilities and state and local governments. Buchanan also supported the $8.3 billion emergency funding bill which Congress passed in early March and the Families First Coronavirus Act.
Last month, Buchanan led a Florida delegation letter with co-chair Congressman Alcee Hastings asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide Florida with much-needed emergency medical supplies.
Buchanan was one of the first in Congress to call for the president to declare a public health emergency and to call for restricting flights into the country from China, the origin of the disease. In 2017, Buchanan proposed that Congress should create a pandemic response fund to combat deadly infectious diseases.
