Senate Republicans unveiled their version of the next phase of COVID-19 relief legislation late Monday, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability and School (HEALS) Act. CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle called on legislators to include Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness language in the bill.

“Ensuring that small businesses can remain focused on serving their communities, customers, and employees amid this pandemic has been a tent pole of the Paycheck Protection Program since its creation,” Nussle said. “Unfortunately, the program’s history has also shown the need for Congress to be more prescriptive in its guidance to ensure that those businesses, and the credit unions facilitating their loans, experience a rapid and streamlined process.

“As Congress continues to negotiate the next phase of this crucial program, we encourage the adoption of the bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Cramer, Menendez, Sinema, and Tillis, and Reps. Houlahan and Upton. In this critical hour, it’s imperative that America’s small businesses focus on keeping Main Street resilient rather than jumping through regulatory hurdles,” he added.

CUNA strongly supports both House and Senate PPP forgiveness bills, which would, among other things, provide for simple forgiveness of PPP loans under $150,000.

CUNA is currently analyzing the full text of the HEALS Act.