Senate Passes Fourth Bipartisan Coronavirus Package to Bolster Small Businesses and Health Care Needs

Legislation Provides Small Business Funding, Supports Hospitals, and Invests In Nationwide Testing

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today announced the U.S. Senate passed a $484 billion package to support small businesses, provide additional funding for hospitals and health care providers, and invest in a widespread testing plan.

 

“Michigan families, farms, and businesses are facing unprecedented hardship while COVID-19 is still taking too many precious lives in Michigan. I know so many businesses and workers are understandably eager to get back to work. And we won’t be able to do that until we have widespread testing to ensure our communities and workplaces are safe. This bill makes a substantial investment in the testing we need to save lives and reopen our economy. The bill also includes urgent funding for our health care providers and small businesses. Importantly, this new funding makes sure that minority-owned small businesses and businesses in our smaller towns and rural communities are able to get the help they need to survive this crisis,” said Senator Stabenow.

 

The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act provides:

 

Small Business Funding

 

$310 billion to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, which offers forgivable loans to small businesses. $60 billion of this will be set aside for Community Development Financial Institutions, Minority Depository Institutions, community-focused lending intermediaries, and the smallest community banks and credit unions. 

 

$60 billion in economic disaster relief for small businesses. $50 billion to fund Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), which will support more than $350 billion of additional EIDL lending, and $10 billion in EIDL grants. Eligibility for these loans was expanded to include farms and agricultural businesses.

 

Health Care Funding

 

$75 billion in additional funding for hospitals and health care providers. This money will help with expenses and lost revenue hospitals and health care providers are facing during the COVID-19 crisis.

 

$25 billion for researching, manufacturing and administering COVID-19 tests. This funding will also support infrastructure to implement contact tracing and laboratory capacity expansion. Testing remains free to all Americans due to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

 

For more information on COVID-19 resources, please visit Stabenow.senate.gov/coronavirus.

 

###