Rep. Cisneros Votes for More Funding for Small Businesses, Healthcare Workers, and Testing

Press Release

Today, Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) voted for the bipartisan coronavirus stimulus package, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The package includes additional funding for the PPP, Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), hospitals, healthcare workers, and testing. On Tuesday, April 21st, Rep. Cisneros flew to Washington, D.C. to vote for the package.

"Our communities are still hurting from the coronavirus, and they are in desperate need of immediate relief. I felt it was my responsibility to be in D.C. today to pass the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act and provide critical funding for our small businesses, healthcare workers, and testing. With this relief package, Congress has also dedicated much-needed PPP funding for our small- and medium-sized banks, credit unions, CDFIs, and community-based lenders. We have to make sure that our small businesses, including those owned by people of color, women, and veterans, are treated fairly in the PPP application process and are receiving these forgivable loans.

"Our work shouldn't end here. I've said it from the beginning, we need wholistic solutions that help our country during these unprecedented times. While this coronavirus package is a step in the right direction, Democrats and Republicans must immediately get to work to deliver long-term relief. That means supporting our local cities and municipalities, aiding students and schools, and implementing robust testing policies that will enable us to move out of this crisis and reopen the economy."

The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act includes the following:

For small businesses: $370 billion for small businesses. Strengthens and improves the Paycheck Protection Program with $310 billion in additional funding, with $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks, and credit unions and $30 billion for medium-sized banks and credit unions. The package expands small business support beyond PPP by securing $50 billion for SBA disaster lending, translating into more than $350 billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA disaster grants. Also secured strong protections to ensure that our nation's farmers have access to this vital assistance.

For hospitals and healthcare workers: $75 billion to provide resources to those on the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment. The Administration has also agreed to key improvements, including significantly lowering the interest rate on advance payments, lengthening the repayment schedule, and distributing payments from general revenues not in the Hospital Insurance Fund.

For all Americans: $25 billion for testing, which is the key to reopening the economy and resuming our lives. The Administration has agreed to a national strategic testing policy that will focus on increasing domestic testing capacity, including testing supplies. Twenty-one days after enactment, the Secretary must issue a report on COVID-19 testing and shall include data on demographic characteristics including race, ethnicity, and geographic regions, which must be updated every 30 days. The report will also include numbers and rates of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as a result of COVID-19.

Source