Trump Signs $484 Billion Coronavirus Stimulus Bill

On Friday, April 24h, the U.S President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion stimulus package to aid small businesses and the healthcare system.

This new bill replenishes two exhausted funds for small business assistance – the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. It also offers additional assistance to healthcare and funds an expansion of testing capacity nationwide.

The interim emergency bill puts an additional $310 billion toward the PPP, which Congress initially approved $350 billion in late March. In addition, the bill addresses complaints that larger businesses with existing relationships with banks were able to receive funding over mom-and-pop businesses. Of the funds, $60 billion is reserved for lenders with less than $50 billion in assets and $30 billion is reserved for lenders with less than $10 billion in assets. The bill allocates an additional $60 billion to restart the EIDL program as well.

In the coming weeks, lawmakers are still expected to propose a follow-up to the larger CARES Act. However, the Republicans and Democrats have struggled to come to an agreement on what should be included. It remains to be seen what the second round of PPP loans will mean to small business who were considering and on the brink of filing bankruptcy under the recently amended Small Business Bankruptcy Recovery Act, which was implemented on February 20,2020. AIS will monitor chapter 11 filing volumes, including Subchapter V cases, and publish the analysis.