July 8, 2020—The Paycheck Protection Program was officially extended through Aug. 8, reports Inc.
According to the report, the Senate unanimously approved the extension merely hours before the program was set to expire recently, with more than $130 billion still leftover for eligible small businesses. But on Independence Day, President Trump signed legislation to extend the program.
The Small Business Administration has approved nearly 4.9 million loans, worth more than $520 billion, since the program's launch in March.
The report says lawmakers in recent weeks have debated the specifics on how to apply the remaining funds, even discussing the possibility of enacting the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program Act, or P4, which would extend the application deadline to Dec. 30. This act would offer business with 100 or fewer employees an even more extended period of time to apply for the loan. According to the report, the bill is currently being considered by Congress.
Further, another bill was recently introduced by senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to forgive all PPP loans under a $150,000 threshold, which is said to cover about 85 percent of all PPP loans and 26 percent of the program's value.
The report also notes that the extension does nothing for the millions of businesses that applied for the PPP earlier in the process and have already exhausted their funding or are set to do so soon.
