{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcadams.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=273", "McAdams: Treasury Department and SBA must clarify path for businesses to quickly access economic relief loans", "2020-04-02", "2020", "2020-04", "Democrat", "House", "UT", "Ben McAdams", "M001209", "mcadams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "West Jordan, UtahCongressman Ben McAdams is urging the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration (SBA) to clarify questions from local financial institutions and small businesses about how they can apply for, process and receive funds established by Congress for the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program. The $349 billion relief program is an effort to keep workers in their jobs at a time when unemployment claims are skyrocketing. McAdams sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Carranza outlining his concerns.\r\nMcAdams said he's hearing from local small businesses and financial institutions that guidance from the Treasury Department is desperately needed to avoid confusion. Currently small businesses and lending institutions are struggling to understand the program's requirements, which could lead to chaos when the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) opens Friday, overwhelming the SBA and its partners.\r\nSmall businesses are unsure of whether they qualify, what lenders will participate, what documents they need to submit, and how quickly they can access funds from the loans. They face these questions as they are weighing difficult decisions for their businesses and employees  decisions that could determine if the business is able to keep its doors open and keep employees on payroll, said McAdams.\r\nMcAdams said he and his staff are part of a joint effort between the state of Utah and the Utah District SBA office. The Utah Economic Response Task Force has established a Rapid Response Team with volunteers from a number of Utah organizations. Its initial focus is supporting the Utah District SBA office as it responds to a flood of requests for assistance from Utah businesses seeking aid through the PPP and/or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. In his letter, McAdams praised the collaboration between Utah's federal delegation, the Utah Economic Task Force and Utah's SBA office.\r\nMcAdams says Congressional intent for PPP is to aid any small business or nonprofit hurt by the current coronavirus economic crisis to apply for help. This includes individuals who are self-employed or independent contractors who have been affected by the COVID-19 public health crisis.\r\nMcAdams said more information is available on the Economic Response Task Force website.\r\nAnswers must come quickly. Utah has already experienced more than 28,000 unemployment claims in one week. Those are employees whose families have already begun struggling to pay bills and keep their personal finances afloat, said McAdams.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcadams.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=273"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8484858553856611, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}