(Washington, D.C.)—U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.), committee Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine), and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a senior member of the Senate Small Business Committee, today sent a letter to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza and Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin urging the administration officials to quickly implement the small business provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The senators are members of the bipartisan task force that negotiated the small business provisions in the CARES Act, which was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate last week and includes more than $377 billion in relief for small businesses.

“It is critical that this relief is disbursed to small businesses as quickly as possible to help ensure that no small businesses are forced to choose between solvency and retaining their employees during this uncertain time,” the senators wrote. “To that end, we urge the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration to quickly issue publicly-available, comprehensive guidance to lenders and businesses on the assistance available, including the Paycheck Protection Program, emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan grants, and debt relief provisions.”

The senators urged Carranza and Mnuchin to quickly issue guidance to lenders and small businesses on the new relief programs available through SBA.

The senators continued: “As all of government works to stop the spread of COVID-19, it is incumbent upon Congress and your agencies to work together to ensure that workers and small businesses have every opportunity afforded by this law to provide for and enjoy the dignity of work, which is second only to the immediate health and safety of Americans, and the need for workers and families to continue to receive income to pay their bills.”

On Friday, Cardin released a guide to help small business owners learn about the relief programs in the CARES Act, including the emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan grants and the Paycheck Protection Program. 

Click here to download a PDF of the letter; the full text follows:

Dear Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza:

We write to request your immediate and sustained attention and commitment to implementing the Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act, which President Trump signed into law on March 27, 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136).  The Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act provides $377 billion in immediate and meaningful relief to small businesses so that they can remain operational despite economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the Paycheck Protection Program – a new loan guarantee program created under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) 7(a) program that is intended to assure employees of covered small businesses not only a paycheck in the near-term, but also the longer term assurance that their job will still be there for them. 

It is critical that this relief is disbursed to small businesses as quickly as possible to help ensure that no small businesses are forced to choose between solvency and retaining their employees during this uncertain time. To that end, we urge the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration to quickly issue publicly-available, comprehensive guidance to lenders and businesses on the assistance available, including the Paycheck Protection Program, emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan grants, and debt relief provisions.  We also ask that you continue to expeditiously upgrade and update the SBA website so that it is simple for borrowers to find links to the programs authorized under the CARES Act, identify Paycheck Protection Program lenders, and apply for the paycheck and grant assistance.

As all of government works to stop the spread of COVID-19, it is incumbent upon Congress and your agencies to work together to ensure that workers and small businesses have every opportunity afforded by this law to provide for and enjoy the dignity of work, which is second only to the immediate health and safety of Americans, and the need for workers and families to continue to receive income to pay their bills.  

Thank you for your immediate attention to these matters. We stand ready to assist your efforts to implement the Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act.  Thank you for your efforts.

Sincerely,