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Congress Fails to Pass Additional COVID Relief Funds
In May, Congress failed to advance, Small Business COVID Relief Act. Democrats had attempted to additional Covid funds to the emergency Ukraine aid. The bulk of the package, $40 billion, would backfill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund for the roughly two-thirds of applicants who didn’t receive any grant money under the initial program.
The remaining $8 billion in the Cardin-Wicker bill would be divided among select industries:
• $2 billion to gyms and fitness centers.
• $2 billion for live event services, such as companies that provide staging, lighting, sound and casts for theaters.
• $2 billion for transportation service providers, such as buses and ferries.
• $1.4 billion for very small businesses located within 50 miles of land ports of entry that were closed due to the pandemic, with at least one-third set aside for firms located near the Mexican border and another one-third for businesses close to the Canadian border.
• $500 million for minor league sports teams.
• $85 million for small businesses in Alaska, Washington and Minnesota that are geographically separated from the rest of the U.S. and weren’t accessible due to pandemic-related Canadian border closures.
The act largely failed due to concerns by Republicans on the need for funds and the growing federal deficit.
It is unclear if Congress will take further action in support of small businesses still financially recovering from the Covid pandemic disaster.