Letter to the Hon. Jovita Carranza, SBA Administrator - Maloney Calls on SBA to Provide Small Businesses with Disaster Loan Application Status Updates

Letter

We write today to express concerns with the administration of the Emergency Economic Injury Grants and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. These grants were meant to provide an emergency advance of up to $10,000 to small businesses and private non-profits that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, within three days of an application. The program was designed to serve as an immediate cash payment to keep businesses on the brink open while they wait for their EIDL to be processed.

Unfortunately, this has not happened. Instead, businesses across the country have been waiting for weeks to receive their initial emergency grants. When these businesses have reached out to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for guidance and status updates, they have been told that the SBA cannot provide that information. Furthermore, when Congressional caseworkers make official requests for status updates on behalf of our constituents, they too have been refused. The SBA was specifically designed to help small businesses access federal resources. It is unacceptable that individuals cannot obtain the status updates necessary to make tough decisions about their business during this pandemic.

This week Congress passed legislation, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, providing $50 billion for the EIDL program as well as an additional $2.1 billion for administrative costs. With the inclusion of these additional administrative costs, we urge the SBA to immediately provide status updates to struggling small businesses across the country that are seeking information about their EIDL applications.

We recognize these are challenging times, and we thank you for your work and consideration. We look forward to working with you to ensure our small businesses stay afloat and get timely access to the relief Congress has provided.