ICYMI: Bipartisan Coalition Calls On McConnell to Fix Paycheck Protection Program, Allow Funding for Small Business Owners Who Have Turned Their Lives Around
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan coalition of criminal justice reform advocates joined forces in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to fix the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program. Currently, the program restricts or disqualifies people with criminal records from receiving funding to keep their businesses afloat, threatening local economies that rely on these small businesses, and punishing individuals who have successfully turned away from crime. The letter was released immediately after President Trump indicated support for addressing this matter, responding to a reporter that he would look into the SBA’s rejection of a small business owner with a record.
Key excerpts are below and you can read the full letter here.
[T]he Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)—which provides loans meant to help small business employers pay their employees during the COVID-19 crisis—denies applicants if they are “an owner of 20 percent or more of the equity of the applicant [who] is incarcerated, on probation, on parole; presently subject to an indictment, criminal information, arraignment, or other means by which formal criminal charges are brought in any jurisdiction; or has been convicted of a felony within the last five years.” The application also includes several questions that make it unclear as to whether other types of criminal records or past involvement with the justice system may prohibit access to these loans.
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An estimated one in three American adults has a criminal record; and because people with records often have trouble finding employment, many of them have gone on to start their own businesses after they have paid for their mistakes. The exclusions listed in the aforementioned rule are far too broad and exclude far too many individuals, some of whom have become pillars of their communities: job creators who provide invaluable skills and services, and an essential tax base, to their communities.
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The CARES Act was designed to ensure that our workforce could overcome the devastating impact of this indiscriminate pandemic, supplying much-needed assistance to employers and business owners who make up the backbone of our economy. The Small Business Administration’s policies regarding people with criminal records go against the intent of the legislation and the Trump administration’s ongoing support of second chances for people who have paid for their mistakes and overcome enormous obstacles to start their own businesses and become productive members of society. At a time of historic economic contraction, it would be counterproductive to exclude those with criminal records who have started businesses—and even individuals who have never been duly convicted of a crime—from contributing to our shared recovery efforts.