Reed & Whitehouse Call on Trump Admin to Simplify PPP Loan Forgiveness

Press Release

In new letter to Treasury & SBA, Reed, Whitehouse join all Senate Democrats in calling for urgently-needed improvements to streamline and simplify current, onerous process for smaller businesses applying for PPP loan forgiveness

In an effort to make it easier for Rhode Island small businesses to apply for federal loan forgiveness, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today joined all 45 of their Democratic and Independent Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza calling for urgently needed improvements to streamline and simplify the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application process to ensure the smallest and most underserved businesses are able to fully take advantage of the program.

"Since the release of the forgiveness form and instructions a few weeks ago, we have heard significant concerns from small businesses and lenders alike about the complexity of the process, especially for the smallest businesses," the 47 Senators wrote.

Reed and Whitehouse say the 11-page application form is needlessly complex and should be simplified to prevent small businesses who are making attempts to adhere to the loan forgiveness rules from being penalized. They are urging the Trump Administration to take additional steps to assist borrowers and point out that small businesses and lenders alike have voiced concerns about the complexity and high cost-burden of the forgiveness application process for PPP loans, particularly for very small and underserved businesses, including microbusinesses, sole proprietorships, rural, and minority-owned small businesses.

In addition, the complex process contributes to barriers to entry for new borrowers and could heighten existing hurdles to inclusion, with recent survey data indicating that close to a fifth of minority business owners did not apply for assistance from programs like PPP because they saw the application process to be overly cumbersome and long.

To avoid the chaos that borrowers and lenders experienced in the early weeks of the PPP program, Senate Democrats request that the Administration streamline the forgiveness application now, especially for smaller loans, as many borrowers near the time to apply for forgiveness, and provide adequate resources to ensure a smooth and reliable process.

Reed and Whitehouse recently helped pass the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (Public Law No. 116-142), which Reed cosponsored, to help provide Main Street businesses with further clarity and to streamline the loan forgiveness process.

Senate Democrats' letter to Secretary and Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza can be found here and text follows:

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