PPAI and the Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC), of which PPAI is a member, have signed onto a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate and of its Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, expressing support for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the recently introduced “Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program (CSBRPPP) Act.”

The CSBRPPP would potentially offer a second PPP loan to qualifying small businesses. The letter urges the senators to expand eligibility of the second PPP loans to include a larger share of small businesses by lowering the gross revenue reduction requirement from 50 percent.

While expressing support for the PPP and the CSBRPPP, the 120 organizations that have signed onto the letter, representing small businesses in practically every sector of the economy, stress that based on their members’ experiences, the 50-percent revenue decline threshold necessary for additional relief is too high.

The letter notes, “Many small businesses operate with slim profit margins in a normal economy. For them, even a revenue decline of 20 percent or greater could mean the difference between staying in business or closing. For their employees, such a revenue decline could mean the difference between remaining at work and receiving benefits or losing their jobs. For businesses with revenue declines of 20 percent or greater, but less than 50 percent—businesses currently excluded from the proposed CSBRPP Act—broad access to a second round of PPP funding, and the new, long-term, low-interest loan program, may prove the lifeline they need to stay afloat throughout the economic recovery.”