{"id":220955,"date":"2020-03-27T22:54:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T03:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=220955"},"modified":"2020-05-01T20:50:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T01:50:36","slug":"planned-parenthood-excluded-small-business-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-excluded-small-business-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Planned Parenthood excluded from small business aid in COVID-19 relief legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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UPDATE, 5\/1\/20<\/strong>:\u00a0Phase 4 of the COVID-19 relief packages was signed into law by President Trump on April 24th and extends the funding available to the Paycheck Protection Program. The administration has ensured that the additional $320 billion dollars for the Small Business Administration to administer in loans to small businesses fall under the same rules for excluding large businesses, including abortion giant Planned Parenthood. A White House official told the\u00a0Daily Signal<\/a>, \u201cWhile each Planned Parenthood affiliate has fewer than 500 employees, nationwide it has over 16,000 employees. So when applying PPP\u2019s affiliation rules neutrally, it\u2019s clear that Planned Parenthood is one large employer and not eligible for PPP money. The interim final rule made crystal clear that an organization with Planned Parenthood\u2019s corporate structure doesn\u2019t qualify.\u201d<\/p>\n

3\/27\/20<\/strong>: Late Friday afternoon, President Trump\u00a0signed<\/a>\u00a0the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES<\/a>\u00a0Act), or \u201cPhase 3\u201d of the coronavirus relief packages, into law. The bipartisan $2.2 trillion COVID-19\u00a0relief package<\/a>\u00a0passed in the Senate by a unanimous\u00a096-0 vote<\/a>\u00a0on Wednesday, followed by a\u00a0voice vote<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. House Representatives Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The CARES Act aims to financially assist American families and businesses in the wake of the economic disruption of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic sweeping the nation and world. The Act provides direct cash payments of $1,200 to most American adults, and an additional $500 per child to parents under a certain salary threshold. It also provides up to $350 billion in aid and loans for small businesses to cover payroll and other operational losses from the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

One provision is an Emergency Small Business Loan program with the Small Business Administration (SBA) for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees. Under the program, eligible businesses and nonprofits can take up to $10 million in forgivable\u00a0loans if they keep staff on payroll from March 1 to June 30. Because the loans are forgivable, they effectively serve as operational grants. However, the SBA will treat businesses and nonprofits as \u201caffiliates<\/a>\u201d to determine whether they exceed the 500-employee threshold.<\/p>\n

This provision disqualifies Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its nearly 600 facilities, since Planned Parenthood has approximately 16,000 employees nationwide. On its\u00a0website<\/a>, PPFA refers to its \u201c49 unique, locally governed affiliates.\u201d These affiliates operate approximately 587 facilities,\u00a0according to a new report<\/a>. In fact, PPFA routinely refers to its \u201caffiliates\u201d in financial\u00a0statements<\/a>\u00a0and annual\u00a0reports<\/a>. Even though most Planned Parenthood locations have staffs of fewer than 500 employees, the law was written so that Planned Parenthood will be treated as a single business entity and therefore ineligible for these SBA loans. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n