Representatives of Senator Mike Lee’s office participated in a Be In the Know session organized by San Juan County Economic Development and Visitors Services director Natalie Randall on Tuesday December 29th. The topic was recent legislation passed to provide more help to businesses affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Justin Anthony, Senator Lee’s Business Outreach liaison and Brecken Denler, also a legislative aide to Lee, did their best to answer questions regarding the upcoming funding and also address repayment or forgiveness of the funding already received. Denler who described himself as “Senator Lee’s legislative correspondent for all things money” was forthcoming about the fact that, out of the over 5000 pages comprising the new legislation, it is not easy to find the answers to questions business owners may have. Even the summary of the aid package runs in excess of 30 pages.
Timing on the aid package, which had been the results of a bipartisan effort in Washington, was slowed as President Trump refused to sign the measure into law over disagreements regarding the size of relief checks going to individual taxpayers.
As a result of that slowdown, Anthony and Denler explained, no one is 100% clear yet on everything contained in the bill but they were game to address some of the more salient points that could affect businesses in San Juan County.
The package which amounts to $325 billion would provide additional assistance to the hardest-hit small businesses, nonprofits, and venues that are struggling to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A second round of funding of forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses and nonprofits experiencing significant revenue losses, along with programmatic improvements to PPP will be available as a result. Also included is money to fund grants to shuttered venues, and emergency enhancements to other SBA lending programs that originated as a part of the initial economic relief package.
This assistance will provide small business owners with the capital they need to survive the pandemic and includes critical resources for the smallest businesses.
You can watch a recording of the Zoom call by clicking here.
A concise print rundown of the new act can be found here: The Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act.
