By Zachary Mider and Cedric Sam
During the first 10 days of the federal government’s small-business rescue program, the spigot was wide open in Nebraska. Firms there got enough money to cover about three-fourths of the state’s eligible payrolls. It was a different picture in New York and California, where companies received less than a quarter of their share.
Those findings, based on Evercore ISI estimates of eligible payrolls in each state, show the uneven distribution of the first $248 billion of Small Business Administration coronavirus-relief loans, through April 13. Under the Paycheck Protection Program, Congress authorized forgivable loans equal to 2 ½ times monthly payroll for businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The SBA is using thousands of banks to process applications and distribute the $349 billion that Congress appropriated. As of Thursday, the fund was depleted, and while both parties support expanding the program, Congress hasn’t yet voted to do so.
Jackie Speier is right. We all should smell a rat here.