The U.S. Economy depends to a great extent on our small business community. The welfare of small businesses affects each and everyone of us directly or indirectly as this makes up 50% of our GDP.

The Payroll Protection Program (PPP), although necessary, as written in the bill, is depleting all available monies allocated for the standard SBA 7(a) loan program. This is causing a situation in which the program will soon run out of funds, with no further SBA 7(a) loans available through June 30, 2020.

Without the SBA 7(a) loan program, new business opportunities, expansion, and acquisitions could be greatly affected. If it is true, as many believe, that small businesses will lead us into an economic recovery, the absence of these loans could hamper the U.S.’s ability to have a rapid financial recovery and could potentially cause many small businesses to close their doors for good. We are petitioning for the reallocation of the source of the PPP funds in order to protect the resources originally intended to help all small business owners through the end of the government’s fiscal year, September 30, 2020.

In 2010, the SBA recognized the importance of small businesses by passing a recovery act allowing SBA lenders to receive a 90% guarantee on loans funded during the recovery period, while waiving all borrower fees. The resulting credit enhancement gave lenders incentive to provide small businesses with financing that they typically would not have entertained during an economic downturn. In addition, the waiving of borrower fees made it much more affordable for business owners. This provided many new jobs and stimulated the markets, shortening U.S. recovery time. This petition urges Congress to initiate and pass a new recovery act that includes the 90% SBA guarantee for loans made by lenders for at least through the end of 2020 as well as a waiver of the SBA guarantee fees for at least the same period.