Dear John,

Oregonians across our state are struggling right now -- struggling to perform their essential jobs, to keep their businesses afloat, and to take care of themselves and their families while facing new financial realities. As you know, the coronavirus is continuing to challenge the social and economic fabric of our nation and our world. It’s a challenge that we must meet with compassion, science, and a bold, united effort.

As your U.S. Senator, I’m doing everything I can to advocate for that kind of response at the national level, and to get you and your neighbors the information you need to access critical assistance programs. Today, I’m reaching out to share information about the latest piece of coronavirus relief legislation, which was just passed by Congress and signed into law.

While this bill doesn’t tackle many key areas that still need to be addressed, it will provide an important stopgap, especially for our small businesses. It includes an additional $310 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), including $60 billion in PPP funding that will specifically support unbanked and underserved small businesses. $30 billion of this funding has been set aside for community based lenders, which include Minority Depository Institutions and the smallest community banks and credit unions.

To apply for these forgivable loans through your bank, which are guaranteed by the federal government and do not require a personal guarantee or collateral, click here. For more information and guidance on the program, check out my team’s Frequently Asked Questions document here. 

The bill also includes another $50 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans and $10 billion for Emergency Economic Injury Grants. Critically, this bill also makes our agricultural businesses eligible for these programs -- a key change that I fought for in this bill.

In addition, this bill includes urgent support for our hospitals and health care providers -- namely, $75 billion for our health care facilities and $25 billion to support coronavirus testing efforts.

While this bill provides a necessary stopgap for our small businesses and health care providers, we can’t delay in providing further relief to American families. That means I’m going to keep fighting for:

     -- A nationwide moratorium on utility disconnections;
     -- An increase in food stamp benefits;
     -- Assistance for unemployed workers to help them afford COBRA health coverage;
     -- Funding for state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the U.S. Postal Service;
     -- Nationwide mail-in and no-excuse absentee voting -- because no one should have to risk their health to make their voice heard in our elections;
     -- A comprehensive plan and funding for the large-scale testing and contact tracing efforts that will be so critical to reopening our nation safely; and,
     -- A path to ramp up domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity. 
 
These past few weeks have been tough -- but I am heartened by the dedication and bravery of our frontline workers, who are working around the clock to keep our communities safe, and by the families who are committed to staying home to protect themselves and our most vulnerable Oregonians. We still have a long fight ahead of us, but please know that I’m committed to securing the resources our state needs to weather this storm. I’ll continue to be in touch with more information about those resources as we keep building our path forward.

We’re in this together, and we’re going to get through it together.

All my best,
Jeff