WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thursday’s Senate Committee on Small Business hearing examined how badly the Trump administration has failed to provide adequate financial assistance to businesses in communities of color struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of helping mom-and-pop shops and small local operators, millions of dollars from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) were funneled to wealthy and well-connected publicly-traded companies. In fact, one survey reviewing applications in May found only 12% of Black and Latinx business owners received the SBA relief they had applied for.

“The Paycheck Protection Program has been poorly designed and managed from the start. The Trump administration has failed to support small businesses in communities of color, which are disproportionately impacted by this crisis,” said Derek Martin, spokesman for Accountable.US. “The administration has bailed out the wealthy and well-connected, but it has left businesses in communities of color behind to fend for themselves. Congress needs to step in to establish a new, transparent relief program that ensures support reaches the communities that need it most.”

BACKGROUND: For more information, see Accountable.US’s…

  • Memo on the PPP’s design and data failures along with suggested next steps;
  • Fact sheet on how the Trump administration failed minority-owned businesses;
  • Op-ed and letter to Congress penned by former SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns and Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig.

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