CUNA continued its strong push to include Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgiveness language in the next phase of pandemic relief legislation Tuesday with a letter to Congress and an updated action alert calling on credit union stakeholders to support the bill.

There are bipartisan Senate and House bills offering simplified forgiveness of PPP loans under $150,000 that credit unions are advocating for inclusion as Congress continues negotiations on COVID-19 relief legislation.

The bills would also ensure a lender will be held harmless from any enforcement action if the borrower’s attestation contained falsehoods.

CUNA wrote to Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), sponsors of the House bill, Tuesday expressing support for their legislation.

“America’s credit unions have issued thousands of PPP loans to help small business owners recover from the impact of the pandemic. For the country’s smallest credit unions, that amounts to over 60,000 loans averaging just $49,000—a true measure of just how crucial this program has been to the mom and pop organizations that keep Main Street resilient,” the letter reads. “CUNA fully supports this legislation to ensure America’s small businesses can weather the COVID-19 pandemic.”

According to the Small Business Administration, 3.7 million PPP loans were $150,000 or less. Approximately 94% of credit union PPP loans were under that amount.

In addition to reaching out to members of Congress urging them to support inclusion, CUNA is also asking credit unions to activate their members to share with Congress the importance of having the PPP loans forgiven.