Quickly enacting the Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act (S. 4117/H.R.7777) would help small businesses that need forgiveness to be as simple, cost-effective and efficient as possible, CUNA, the American Association of Credit Union Leagues (AACUL) and all League presidents wrote to Congressional leaders this week.

The bills, introduced in the House and Senate, would allow for immediate forgiveness of PPP loans under $150,000 if the borrower submits a form to the lender, and ensures lenders will be held harmless from any borrowers’ attested falsehoods.

“Credit unions are increasingly concerned that the loan forgiveness process is overly complicated for most businesses. The complexity of the forgiveness process is compounded for small businesses as they may require outside counsel to correctly navigate the application process,” the letter reads. “This is an expense many of the smallest businesses cannot afford during such a crucial time. Creating an overly complex forgiveness process would seem to be the antithesis to the spirit of a program designed to rapidly deploy resources to small business, especially when the expectation is that the funds appropriated to PPP were never expected to be repaid.”

Small credit unions made more than 60,000 PPP loans, averaging $49,000 per loan. Some even made loans for as little as $1,000. With the transition from lending to loan forgiveness, borrowers are working to meet the forgiveness requirements.

“The Paycheck Protection Program Small Business Forgiveness Act would allow America’s small business owners and Main Street financial institutions to remain focused on serving their communities rather than jumping through burdensome regulatory hurdles,” the letter reads.

CUNA issued an action alert in August calling on members to voice their support for PPP forgiveness legislation to their members of Congress.