PPP extended for two more months

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President Joe Biden signed the PPP Extension Act of 2021 into law March 30, extending the Paycheck Protection Program an additional two months to May 31 and providing an additional 30 days for the U.S. Small Business Administration to process pending applications.

This legislation extends the December law, under which small businesses that employ 300 or fewer people and that have experienced at least a 25% gross revenue loss due to ongoing pandemic were eligible to apply for a second forgivable PPP loan; and forgivable overhead expenses were expanded to include supplier costs and costs related to facility modifications and personal protective equipment needed to operate safely.

The extension legislation was introduced by U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said in a prepared comment on the law that the president is sending a strong message to the 30-plus million small business owners negatively impacted by the pandemic: “help is here.”

“By signing the PPP Extension Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act into law, the President is providing additional critical relief to the smallest of the small businesses – the mom-and-pop shops that line our Main Streets and keep our local and regional economies going,” Guzman said.

The SBA has administered more than eight million PPP loans in the last year.

In remarks made at signing, Biden called the extension legislation a “bipartisan accomplishment.”

“We’re pushing lenders to raise their game and provide more help to small — many small businesses. As you know, particularly Hispanic, as well as African American small businesses are just out of business because they got bypassed the first time around,” Biden said.

Biden noted that nearly 90,000 business owners are still in line for the funds and that there’s money left.

“Without somebody signing this bill today, there are hundreds of thousands of people who could lose their jobs, and small and family businesses that might close forever. And, as you know, small business is the backbone of our economy, representing almost 50 percent of all the employees in America,” he said.