Contrary to Trump's claims, the rollout of small business relief under the CARES Act has been a mess — thousands of restaurants, small retail stores and non-profit organizations have been unable to access critical support.
The Small Business Administration and Treasury Department have not given business owners the terms and flexibility they need. Their failure to properly communicate with banks has led to delays in critical cash payments to small businesses being crushed by this crisis – and has shut others out altogether. In addition, the Trump Administration unilaterally imposed conditions on the assistance that undercuts the benefits.
Add your name now to join me in calling on Republicans to stop playing politics and help us fix the CARES Act relief package to save small businesses and non-profit organizations from going under.
Small businesses employ 46.8% of all working Americans and they accounted for 61.8% of new jobs created between 1993 and 2016. Their collapse threatens the livelihood of millions of families and communities across our country.
We need to get them back on track – and time is our enemy. But the recent Trump-McConnell proposal to simply add more money without fixing the problems is not the answer.
The Senate Democratic plan I put forward yesterday would add additional money AND fix some key problems by ensuring funds will reach community-based lenders who are best positioned to help businesses left behind by the big banks, like minority-owned businesses, and by streamlining "know-your-customer" regulations to make applying and getting funded easier and faster.
The Democratic proposal also adds $100 billion for hospitals, non-profits, and other health care providers and requires the administration to FINALLY create a nationwide testing strategy for the virus, and release demographic data so we can identify and help the communities most at risk, like African American communities.
Yesterday Mitch McConnell pulled a political stunt by bringing a deeply flawed proposal to the Senate floor, even though he knew it couldn't pass and would stand no chance in the House if it did. He then blocked the Democratic plan I offered to fund and fix the small business program and address other urgent needs.
Sign here to tell Republicans this is no time for political stunts. We need to act now to fix the small business relief package and support additional testing and health funding to save lives and protect American families and communities.
We need to do this before it’s too late. This is too important to fail.
We’re all in this together,
Chris
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