IMPORTANT COVID-19 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Dear Friends,

On Thursday, I made the trip to Washington, D.C. from McAllen, Texas to vote in favor of H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Health Care Enhancement Act.

This legislation is an interim emergency funding package that will provide the desperately needed resources to sustain efforts to protect the lives and livelihoods of the American people and provide funding for small businesses throughout South Texas. The legislation was signed into law by the President on Friday.

The health, safety, and livelihoods of those in the 15th District come first. This bipartisan legislation will help hospitals and health workers on the frontlines and those on Main Street struggling to get by. Moving forward, we must ensure that any and all aid is distributed in a fair and equitable manner to who demonstrate the greatest need.

H.R. 266 builds on the bipartisan Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act by replenishing funding for key Small Business Administration (SBA) loan and grant programs, and increasing federal funding for hospitals, health care workers, and testing. The measure includes:

• $310 billion in additional funding for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program with, with $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions and $30 billion for medium-sized banks and credit unions;
  
  
• $50 billion for SBA disaster lending, translating into more than $350 billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA disaster grants;
  
  
• $75 billion to provide resources to the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment; and
  $25 billion for testing, a critical component of any plan to reopening the economy and resuming our lives. 

In addition to this funding, the administration has agreed to a national strategic testing policy that will focus on increasing domestic testing capacity, strong protections to ensure that our nation’s farmers have access to SBA loans and grants, and support future legislation significantly lowering the interest rate on advance payments, lengthening the repayment schedule and distributing payments from general revenues not the Hospital Insurance Fund.

I also recently led a statement with the Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus in response to recent reports that large corporations, rather than small businesses, received millions and even billions of dollars in loans from major banks participating in the SBA Paycheck Protection Program.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Beginning this Monday, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. CT, Paycheck Protection Program loan applications will start being accepted again. Please visit the Small Business Administration website for more information on how to apply.

Questions?
As always, it is an honor to represent you and your families during these unprecedented times. I remain at the service of all in the 15th District of Texas. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact my office or call 888-217-026.

Sincerely,

Vicente Gonzalez
Member of Congress