More than 100 U.S. corporate leaders including former Starbucks head Howard Schultz, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella have called on the U.S. Congress to offer additional longer-term support for small businesses to help them survive the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schulz spearheaded the letter which was signed by current and former … [+] U.S. business executives.
KEY FACTS
In a letter released on Monday, the group of current and former executives wrote to leaders of the House and Senate, warning that “small business owners are facing a future of potential financial ruin that will make the nation’s current economic downturn last years longer than it must.”
The corporate leaders said they foresaw a “wave of permanent closures” by Labor Day if Congress failed to act, adding “allowing small businesses to fail will turn temporary job losses into permanent ones.”
The letter pushes for another round of short-term relief through the Paycheck Protection Program and calls on lawmakers to pass legislation similar to the RESTART Act proposed by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Co.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.)
The letter’s proposals include federally guaranteed loans that will allow businesses to sustain themselves well into 2021 and partial loan waivers for the hardest-hit businesses.
Crucial Quote
The letter notes: “Tens of millions of Americans have already lost their jobs in this pandemic… By year end, the domino effect of lost jobs — as well as the lost services and lost products that small businesses provide — could be catastrophic.”
Key Background
The Paycheck Protection Program, which launched April 3, has approved more than 5 million loans totaling about $520 billion, according to the Small Business Administration. Last month Senate Republicans had proposed additional help for small businesses as part of its broad coronavirus relief and stimulus package. The Republican senators’ proposal would create a new program offering loans as much as two times a company’s annual revenue, while not exceeding $10 million.
