Ongoing revelations about how big businesses and chains were able to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program are shaping discussions in Congress about which employers should be eligible if another $300 billion is approved under another proposed stimulus package, the Washington Post reported. National chains received tens of millions of dollars more from the emergency small-business program than previously known. For example, more than 1,000 Sonic Drive-In restaurants received PPP funds, accumulating more than $100 million in all, according to a Washington Post analysis of recently released Small Business Administration data. This despite the fact that Sonic is backed by a private equity giant and performed well during the pandemic. Meanwhile, there is mounting evidence that other PPP recipients have had to lay off scores of workers due to the longer-than-expected pandemic and because recipients were not allowed to receive funds more than once. Employers that received PPP cut an estimated 900,000 jobs nationwide as a result of their loans expiring, according to a new analysis of data from Gusto, a payroll and benefits company. Read more.
In related news, the dedicated congressional coronavirus oversight panel grilled Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday over a rescue loan issued to a shipping company through a program meant for businesses that are crucial to national security, The Hill reported. Members of the Congressional Oversight Commission (COC), created to oversee the implementation of the CARES Act, pressed Mnuchin during a hearing on why the Treasury and Defense departments deemed it necessary to lend $700 million to YRC Worldwide. The commission has been fiercely critical of Mnuchin and the Defense Department’s decision to issue the rescue loan, as well as with lending terms they fear are too generous to a company with longstanding financial issues. Members also questioned whether YRC is truly essential to national security and why the Pentagon has contracted YRC for a significant proportion of its shipping needs. Read more.
