Miss. Delegation Urges Small Business Administration to Include More Mississippi Small Businesses in Paycheck Protection Program

Statement

The entire Mississippi congressional delegation, which includes U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and U.S. Representatives Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., Trent Kelly, R-Miss., and Michael Guest, R-Miss., today sent a letter to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza requesting the SBA issue new agency guidance to include more Mississippi small businesses in the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

Under the current guidance that SBA has issued to lending institutions, significant numbers of employees in Mississippi could be left without support from the Paycheck Protection Program because of the method that SBA is using to count employees for small businesses.

"These workers are the ones who will bear the brunt of negative impacts if the businesses they work for do not receive the same treatment as those defined under SBA's current small business rules. Their companies should have a chance to apply," the delegation wrote.

The Paycheck Protection Program, which was included in the recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, is designed to encourage small businesses of all types to keep their workers on the payroll. The delegation is asking SBA to address discrepancies between SBA's definition of small businesses and the definition used by the Department of Labor to implement other federal programs designed to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy.

Today was the first day that eligible entities could apply for the low-interest loans, which are fully forgivable if employers use the loans to support payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. Interested businesses can visit the SBA website for more information on how to apply.