Show an ad over header. AMP  

The Paycheck Protection Program returns with a lot of unanswered questions

05 January 2021
 Dan Ackermann

The stimulus bill begrudgingly signed by President Trump on the Sunday after Christmas includes $284 billion for a revived Paycheck Protection Program, which would be available to small businesses whether they received loans the first time around or not.

How it will work: We don't know. And that's a problem.

History: In April, the Small Business Administration stood up the PPP and opened the application window just seven days after the CARES Act passed.

  • Yes, there were glitches. And Treasury regularly rolled out new guidance, creating confusion for lenders and a billing bonanza for lawyers.
  • But PPP did move quickly enough that it soon ran out of money. When refreshed just three weeks later, the SBA effectively just flipped the switch back on.

Fast forward: The new stimulus gives the SBA up to 10 days to release rules on how the revived program will work. That deadline is tomorrow, although we've not received official confirmation that it will be met.

  • Similarly, no word from the SBA on when the actual application window will reopen.
  • A source says that the goal this time around is to have more complete rules (i.e., no rolling guidance) and to better educate lenders on the rules, thus preempting some of the hiccups last time around. Or, put another way, applicants should cool their heels at least a little while longer.
  • It remains unclear if applicants whose earlier loans remain under Treasury review will be eligible this time around.
  • Also worth noting that, even if the SBA does open the window in a week or so, it's likely that many application processes will span administrations — although most career SBA staff are expected to remain in place.

The bottom line: The spring's sense of urgency doesn't seem present at the SBA this time around, despite the COVID-19 surge and dire straits faced by many restaurants and other small businesses.

  • While it's laudable that the agency wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, it could and should have been prepared for a revived program, given the ongoing stimulus negotiations, and then tweaked as necessary once seeing the final legislative language.
  • Speed, in this case, matters.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.