{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcadams.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=291", "McAdams calls for bipartisan agreement on more federal aid to small business, counties and local governments", "2020-04-15", "2020", "2020-04", "Democrat", "House", "UT", "Ben McAdams", "M001209", "mcadams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "West Jordan, UtahCongressman Ben McAdams said a small business loan program will run out of money imminently and all sides need to come together to agree on additional funding. McAdams said Small Business Administration (SBA) loan programs supplied with $349 billion in the CARES Act are approaching that limit and need quick action to keep economic relief flowing to small businesses affected by shutdown requirements due to the COVID-19 outbreak. More than one million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans have been approved with a total value of more than $301 billion as of today, according to the SBA. Utah businesses have received over $2.6 billion as of April 13th. PPP provides loans to small businesses to cover payroll and other essential expenses. The loans can be forgiven if employers keep employees on the payroll. Another loan program  the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program has been plagued by an unprecedented number of applications and a shortage of funds. The federal government normally disburses EIDL loans to small businesses hurt by tornadoes and wildfires, but last month expanded the program to help entrepreneurs hurt by coronavirus. I'm talking with small business owners, lenders and Utah families every day who are worried sick about how they're going to pay their bills and financially survive this crisis. We've seen record breaking need for emergency aid and the funds available for relief are draining fast. Nobody knows if the funding will still be available by the time their application finally gets processed. That's adding even more stress to Utah small businesses as they try to survive this crisis. In the meantime, Democrats and Republicans endlessly debate how to extend these critical programs. It's time to come together, strike a bipartisan deal and act quickly to shore up these programs and stop the economic pain to Utah businesses, said McAdams. McAdams said hospitals, cities and counties are also suffering, as the coronavirus outbreak has decimated their budgets. The Coronavirus Relief Fund established in the CARES Act uses a population-based formula to distribute economic aid to local government. Cities and counties with more than 500,000 residents may apply directly to the Treasury Department for cash relief, including Salt Lake County and Utah County but many smaller localities are also feeling economic effects from coronavirus response efforts and declining tax revenues. Small businesses are the economic lifeblood of our communities and this is not the time for partisan gridlock to block progress on our emergency response, said McAdams.", 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=291"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0103830136358738, "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"}