The American Bankers Association joined a broad coalition of nearly 150 trade associations and advocacy groups today in strong support of a bipartisan bill that would expedite the forgiveness process for most borrowers who received loans through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. Sponsored by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) the Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act would allow PPP loans of $150,000 or less to be automatically forgiven once the borrower completes a one-page forgiveness document.
The bill is expected to ease the forgiveness process for approximately 86% of PPP borrowers, in addition to saving an estimated $7 billion and hours of paperwork, the groups said. “This bipartisan legislation would ensure our nation’s small business owners can focus their time, energy, and resources back into their business and communities instead of allocating significant time and resources into completing complex forgiveness forms,” they noted. “Small businesses and their employees are the backbone of our nation’s economy and communities. Their time and resources would be better focused on getting the economy safely back up and running, not processing burdensome paperwork.”
A group of 51 state bankers associations also submitted a letter today in support of the bill. “Banks of all sizes will continue to support their business customers and do their part to spur the economic recovery to come,” the associations said. “In order to help our nation’s smallest small businesses, we urge Congress to quickly pass the Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act to provide necessary relief to millions of small businesses.”
An ABA analysis of PPP loan data released by SBA last week found that the program had supported more than 51.1 million jobs as of June 30. Loans made by the nation’s banks accounted for 95% of that total—an estimated 48.5 million jobs. Additionally, banks far outpaced credit unions, fintech firms and Farm Credit System lenders in their efforts to make PPP loans, accounting for more than 90% of all loans made and dollars lent.
