The House is in session this week and will be voting remotely for the first time ever, CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan says in this week’s Advocacy Update. While things appeared to be at a standstill after House passage of the HEROES Act, Donovan noted things change quickly, and this week the House is expected to consider two bills making changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

“One of the things we’ve observed in the last 10 weeks as Congress has worked to keep the burgeoning health crisis from becoming an full-fledged economic and financial crisis is that members of Congress and their staff have benefitted from becoming reacquainted with credit unions, better understanding their capital and liquidity situation and seeing the work credit unions are doing to serve their members during this time. It’s crucial we continue to engage, not just nationally, but locally and virtually, with members of Congress and their staff.”

The two bills are the Small Business Transparency and Reporting for the Underbanked and Taxpayers at Home (TRUTH) Act (H.R. 6782) and the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020.

H.R. 6782 would require the Small Business Administration to make the following information publicly available:

• Every recipient of a grant or loan that was funded by the CARES Act or the Payroll Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act;
• An explanation of the SBA’s decision-making process;
• The number of employees at the entity in question;
• The date when the grant or loan was disbursed;
• An identification of the bank or lender that administered the grant or loan; and
• The amount of assistance provided to small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, women, and veterans.

The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act would:

• Allow forgiveness for expenses beyond the eight-week covered period;
• Eliminate restrictions limiting non-payroll expenses to 25% of loan proceeds;
• Eliminate restrictions that limit loan terms to two years;
• Ensure full access to payroll tax deferment for businesses that take PPP loans; and
• Extend the rehiring deadline to offset the effect of enhanced Unemployment Insurance.

The full Advocacy Update can be found below.