Today, U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Chair Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Chair Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) sent a letter to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman urging the agency to process pending COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program applications using available funds.
Last week, the SBA announced that the deadline for existing borrowers to submit applications for loan modifications, rehearings, and appeals would by May 6. Yesterday, May 5, the SBA alerted the borrowers that the agency would no longer be accepting applications—one day ahead of its own deadline—due to a lack of funding. By the SBA’s own admission, there may still be funding available for transfer to the program to meet demand.
The senators urged the SBA to use its transfer authority to accommodate borrowers who want to submit for a modification, rehearing, or appeal. The senators wrote, “By prematurely shutting down the program, the agency appears to have prioritized its own administrative needs over those of the thousands of borrowers that await decisions on their applications. Furthermore, it has done so in a way that has needlessly confused borrowers and raised expectations..”
The senators continued, “… if funding does indeed remain available that could be transferred under the authority of the IIJA to serve borrowers in the EIDL loan program, SBA should exercise that authority immediately so that pending applications for modifications, rehearings and appeals can be processed and funded.”
You can read the full letter here