Sarah Mueller
Sen. Marco Rubio and other Senators are requesting immediate commitment and action by members of President Donald Trump’s administration to implement parts of the novel coronavirus economic relief package recently passed by Congress.
Rubio, along with Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland, Susan Collins of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire sent a letter to Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. They are urging action on Rubio’s Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act, which was signed into law as part of the COVID-19 economic relief package passed by Congress last week.
“It is critical that this relief is disbursed to small businesses as quickly as possible to help ensure that no small businesses are forced to choose between solvency and retaining their employees during this uncertain time,” the senators said in a letter. “To that end, we urge the Treasury Department and the SBA to quickly issue publicly-available, comprehensive guidance to lenders and businesses on the assistance available, including the Paycheck Protection Program, emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan grants, and debt relief provisions.”
Rubio’s bipartisan emergency economic relief plan provides more than $377 billion for small businesses to meet their payroll and expenses and receive education and assistance throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic. This includes the Paycheck Protection Program — a new loan guarantee program that is intended to assure employees of covered small businesses of not only a paycheck in the near-term, but also the longer term assurance that their job will still be there for them.
“Communities across Florida and our nation are reeling from this unprecedented crisis, and today the Senate acted on an unprecedented response to provide relief to Americans, small businesses, and our economy,” Rubio said in a statement last week. “Our bipartisan small business package, which was included, will provide emergency relief so that millions of American workers can keep their jobs and millions of small businesses can stay open.”
