Credit unions are concerned Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness process is overly complicated.
Credit unions across the nation have made over 170,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to help small business owners pay employees and other necessary expenses during the pandemic. The average credit union-originated loan was around $49,000 with loans being as small as $1,000 or less, a true measure of just how crucial this program has been to Main Street America.
On Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) wrote to the Senate Banking Committee and the House Small Business Subcommittee expressing support for bills that would provide simple forgiveness for PPP loans under $150,000 and called on Congress to enact “commonsense” liability protections for PPP lenders. CUNA is a national organization based in Washington, D.C. that works to provide legislative support to all credit unions and coordinate congressional efforts at State and Federal levels. As part of CUNA, Greenville Federal Credit Union also supports these efforts.
In the letter CUNA writes, “In order to allow America’s small business owners and Main Street financial institutions to remain focused on serving their communities rather than jumping through burdensome regulatory hurdles, we urge Congress to implement policy that provides automatic loan forgiveness for PPP loans. We strongly support H.R. 7777, the Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act and its Senate companion, S. 4117. This legislation would provide forgiveness for PPP loans of $150,000 or less if the borrower submits an attestation form to the lender. It also ensures that the lender will be held harmless from any enforcement action if the borrower’s attestation contained falsehoods.”
CUNA added that quickly enacting the bill will help small businesses that need the loan forgiveness process to be as simple, cost-effective and efficient as possible.
You can advocate too.
One way you can join in these advocacy efforts is by contacting your representatives and expressing personal support of H.R. 7777, the Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act and its Senate companion, S. 4117. CUNA has made it easy by providing an online letter template with an automatic email option at their Grassroots Action Center (external link). Individuals can input their contact and home address information and the form will automatically populate the appropriate congressional recipients and addresses.
Source: CUNA, www.cuna.org