The Biden administration has announced changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that favors small businesses and the self-employed.
For two weeks beginning 24 February, the forgivable loan program will be open only to businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
Beginning 1 March, new eligibility rules will allow more self-employed persons to receive higher payments; previously, many were excluded or received only negligible sums because loan amounts were based on the business’s number of workers.
Also, business owners with felony convictions not involving fraud can qualify to receive loans, as can persons delinquent on federal student loans and some non-citizen legal residents.
The PPP’s first round lasted from March to August, offering loans to businesses that could be forgiven if at least 75 percent of the money was spent to keep workers on the job.
However, the loans were doled out by major banks that typically favored their best clients, most of which were large corporations. Entrepreneurs and small concerns saw little of the funds.
Congress revived the program in December with another $285 billion, allotting $12 billion for minority-owned businesses and directing the rest toward companies with fewer than 300 employees.
The PPP will close on 31 March or earlier if the money runs out.
TREND FORECAST: To further juice the sagging economy, President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will increase unemployment benefits by $400 a week through the end of August.
This latest round of cheap money pumping will, according to the Congressional Budget Office, increase federal spending by about $163 billion through 2022. Thus, the deeper the debt, the more fake dollars printed on nothing and backed by nothing, the lower the dollar falls, and the higher precious metals and other safe-haven assets rise.
