WASHINGTON DC – The Senate and House have introduced the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program (P4) Act. This bill will emphasize funding to the arts and entertainment sector of the economy, among others.
The bill authorizes new lending under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to small businesses with 100 employees or less, including sole proprietorships and self-employed individuals. Eligible businesses must have already expended an initial PPP loan, or be on pace to exhaust the funding, and must demonstrate a revenue loss of 50 percent or more due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would extend the application deadline for initial PPP loans from June 30 to December 30, or longer, at the discretion of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and would use existing PPP funding to make P4 loans.
To ensure that underserved and hardest-hit businesses can access P4 loans, publicly traded companies are ineligible for the loans; hospitality and lodging businesses with multiple locations are limited to an aggregate loan amount of $2 million; and the bill would reserve the lesser of $25 billion or 20 percent of PPP funds for employers with 10 or fewer employees, as well as small businesses in underserved and rural communities. The bill also directs SBA to issue guidance to give priority to businesses with 10 employees or fewer in the processing and disbursement of P4 and PPP loans, and requires SBA to request demographic information of P4 and PPP loan recipients.
Additionally, the P4 Act would:
- provide eligible small businesses with as much as 250 percent of monthly payroll costs worth up to $2 million;
- prevent affiliated businesses with separate locations from receiving more than $2 million in aggregate P4 loans; and
- allow P4 recipients maximum flexibility to apply for loan forgiveness as soon as 8 weeks after the loan disbursement.
Cardin, Coons & Shaheen Introduce Legislation to Get Capital to Small Businesses Hardest Hit by COVID-19
To ensure passage of this bill we must act quickly, please contact your Senators and Congresspeople to let them know you need their support on funding this bill.
To that end please click on the link below. Once you find your officials, copy, and paste the message below in blue and send to them. Congresspeople and Senators are critically important.
How to Contact Your Elected Officials
June 23rd, 2020
Dear XXXXXXX,
I am writing you concerning the survival of the Live Entertainment Production Industry. Please consider the following:
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION INDUSTRY RELIEF PLAN
- The Live Entertainment Production Industry is a 38 billion dollar a year industry with over 10 million people working in the industry, most of them on an event-by-event basis.
- The Live Entertainment Production Industry will have zero income until crowds of 10,000 or more are permitted. This is not anticipated before October 2020 at the earliest.
To survive, the Live Entertainment Production Industry must have your support in passing the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program (P4) Act immediately.
Absent this relief, the entire industry will cease to exist. The industry stands alone and away from the artists and promoters it works with, many of whom can survive with zero income.
Time is of the essence as the original funding has already begun to expire.
Sincerely,
Name
Phone number
