PPP Extended by Two Months After Senate Agrees New Deadline

The US Senate agreed last week to extend the application deadline for the latest tranche of Paycheck Protection Program loans until May 31, adding two months onto the window for loans.

The extension follows changes to the PPP introduced by the Biden administration, including a 14-day priority window for the smallest businesses.

As of March 21, the Small Business Administration (SBA), which is facilitating the program, had made more than 3.1 million loans in 2021 worth nearly $196 billion in aggregate.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) reported that, as of March 3, the PPP across all three rounds since it was introduced nearly a year ago had supported 78.5 million jobs through more than 7 million loans worth $675 billion.

“We applaud members of the House and Senate for passing the Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act with strong bipartisan support and urge President Biden to quickly sign it into law,” said ABA president and CEO Rob Nichols last week.

“This legislation will help ensure that small businesses that have already applied for a PPP loan will be able to get that loan processed, rather than risk seeing this program end before their paperwork can be completed. It will also provide more time for still-struggling small businesses that have not yet applied for a PPP loan to do so.

“Banks of all sizes have stepped up during the pandemic to strongly support this unprecedented program and deliver more than $675 billion in PPP loans to small businesses, helping to support millions of jobs in the process. We will continue to work in partnership with the SBA to identify and address operational issues that are keeping the program from reaching its full potential.

“Providing an additional two months for small business borrowers to access PPP funding and an extra month for SBA to process PPP loans is a common-sense step that will support the economic recovery.”