In a 180-degree turn, the Trump administration now says it will release the names of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) recipients and also the quantity of taxpayer-funded loans they received from the $660 billion in aid for smaller businesses.
\”I am pleased we have had the opportunity to reach a bipartisan agreement on disclosure that will strike the right balance of providing public transparency, while protecting the payroll and private income information of smaller businesses, sole proprietors, and independent contractors,\” said Secretary Steven Mnuchin inside a statement.
Earlier this month, Mnuchin told the Senate Committee on Small company and Entrepreneurship the names of loan recipients and the amounts are \”proprietary.\”
But critics fought back, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York), who challenged the Treasury.
\”Given the numerous problems with the PPP program, it's imperative American taxpayers determine if the money goes where Congress intended, towards the truly small , unbanked small business,\” said Schumer, CNBC reported.
But on Friday (June 19), the Secretary and also the Sba (SBA), the government agency that manages PPP, reversed course.
SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said the agency values transparency and has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely.
\”This responsibility goes along with the steps we're now taking to provide needed public information while protecting entrepreneurs' personally identifiable information, like a street address associated with their business loan,\” he said inside a statement. \”Small businesses are the power of our economic stability and are leading the way to allow our nation to rebound safely.\”
As of June 12, the PPP provides 4.5 million businesses with $512 billion in assistance, according to data released by the Treasury on Friday.
Nearly $55 billion went to 2.98 million companies and 65 % of applicants received financing of $50,000 and under. The only biggest category was loans between $350,000 to $1 million that visited 197,277 firms, totaling $112 billion, or 22 percent from the total provided.
The top 5 states receiving loans were California at $66.6 billion, Texas at $40 billion, New York in third at $37 billion, Florida fourth with $30 billion and Pennsylvania in fifth at $20 billion.
Among the sectors, the very best five to get revised loans included healthcare at 12.9 %; professional, scientific and technical services at 12.7 percent; construction at 12.4 %, manufacturing at 10.4 % and accommodation and food services at 8 percent.
The Treasury Department said there's $129.7 billion residing in the PPP fund.
