Las Vegas, Nev. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) released the following statement after the Senate passed compromise legislation by unanimous consent which provides additional funding for small businesses and health care providers, along with funding for COVID-19 testing.
“We’re proud to have fought for legislation that delivers health care providers essential support to keep our communities healthy during this pandemic and injects additional funding into the critical Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs to ensure that Nevada small businesses can weather this crisis and reopen their doors. This bipartisan agreement will not only provide much-needed additional funding to the Small Business Administration’s vital relief programs, but also contains provisions we fought to include that will provide minority-owned, unbanked, and rural businesses greater access.
“This funding package also includes important support for Nevada’s health care providers, including $75 billion in direct aid and $25 billion to increase testing capabilities nationwide. Testing is key to any discussion about restarting America’s economy and we’re fighting to do all we can to make sure Governor Sisolak has every resource available so we can restart Nevada’s economy, and get Nevadans back to work.
“While this package provides critical support to small businesses and health care providers, there is still much more work to be done. We will continue to fight to reverse the Small Business Administration’s discriminatory rule that denies small gaming operators access to the PPP program, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of Nevada workers, and we will work to make sure that additional state, local, and tribal government funding as well expansions for health care coverage are included in the next coronavirus funding bill.”
BACKGROUND:
This package includes more than $480 billion in relief for small businesses and health care providers across the country, as well as funds to help improve testing capabilities.
Key provisions of this legislative package include:
SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES
- This legislation includes $370 billion in funding for America’s small businesses who have been impacted by the coronavirus.
- Provides the U.S. Small Businesses Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program with an additional $310 billion, including $60 billion specifically designated to assist unbanked, rural and minority-owned businesses.
- Provides the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) with an additional $50 billion to fund emergency loans, and $10 billion for advance grants.
SUPPORTING OUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
- This bill provides health care providers across the U.S. with $75 billion.
- The legislation also includes $25 billion to help increase testing capabilities across the country.
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