U.S. Senator Tina Smith: $7.6 Billion in Forgivable Loans Approved for Nearly 34,000 Minnesota Small Businesses

Senator Smith, Who Helped Pass Paycheck Protection Program Into Law, Calls Loan Approvals Important Start; Continues Pressing for Additional Funds, Faster Delivery and Improvements to Help More Businesses Access Paycheck Protection Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/15/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—a member of the Senate Banking Committee—announced that, as of April 13, 33,819 Minnesota small businesses have been approved for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, which she helped pass into law as part of the recently passed legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Smith is also pressing for improvements to the program so that money will flow more quickly and to fix implementation errors.

These loans total $7,633,395,870 to help the state’s businesses and make Minnesota the third-highest beneficiary of this program, on a per-capita basis.

The Paycheck Protection Program, which was established by Congress last month, provides loans to small businesses to help them retain workers and stay in business through the unprecedented economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The loans are forgivable to businesses who retain or rehire their workers. 

While the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is providing a key lifeline for many Minnesota small businesses, Sen. Smith says that many implementation errors and a funding shortage are hindering the effectiveness of the program and hurting small businesses. She continues to press for improvements to the program to help more businesses access the much-needed funds. 

“Minnesota small businesses need relief now,” said Sen. Smith. “That’s why I helped pass the Paycheck Protection Program into law and am glad that nearly 34,000 small businesses in our state have been promised aid to date. Now, the Administration should deliver this assistance quickly. And I’m going to keep pressing for improvements to the program. Too many small businesses in Minnesota are facing problems with the application process and remain in crisis. This is an important first step but there’s more work to do.”