CUNA joined dozens of organizations Thursday to call on Congressional leaders to support House and Senate bills to forgive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under $150,000. This letter follows up a similar one from CUNA and all state Leagues sent earlier this week in support of the bills.

“America’s small businesses, and the millions of men and women who work at them, are the foundations of communities across the country and the economy and in order to assist them, we urge Congress to quickly pass these pieces of legislation that would forgive PPP loans of less than $150,000 upon the borrower’s completion of a simple, one-page forgiveness document,” the letter reads. “PPP loans of $150,000 and under account for 87 percent of total PPP recipients, but less than 28% of PPP loan dollars. Expediting the loan forgiveness process for many of these hard-hit businesses would save more than $7 billion and hours of paperwork.”

The letter also cites an independent analysis showing an effective cost of $2,000-$4,000 for each business that applies for forgiveness, requiring 20-100 hours of focused time from key leaders of these businesses.

“With an average loan size of less than $19,000 for the smallest 60% of loans, this estimate would represent 10-20% of the loan amount itself, which is otherwise intended to support payroll, rent, and other obligations necessary to keep businesses alive and ready to restart,” the letter reads.