President Trump on Friday signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 266) into law, providing additional funding for small business loans, health care providers and COVID-19 testing. The House and Senate approved the legislation earlier this week.
The legislation provides an additional $320 billion to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). State corn grower associations last week urged Congressional leaders to provide this additional funding to ensure that agricultural businesses can continue to operate during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Demand for PPP is expected to remain high. Farmers interested in participating are encouraged to contact their lender as soon as possible.
The legislation also makes farms eligible for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program, clarifying that agricultural businesses with fewer than 500 employees are eligible, and makes a $60 billion available for the program.
NCGA is taking a series of actions to help address the economic fallout of COVID-19 and creating solutions to help corn farmers and their customers recover from the financial impacts of this crisis. Learn more about NCGA actions here.