This tweak to the PPP could save small businesses $7 billion

The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to be a two-step process. A small business would receive a forgivable loan to keep them afloat during the pandemic. Then later, if they used the money in appropriate ways, they’d have the loan forgiven.

Step 1 has largely worked well. Over 5 million loans have been given out, totaling over half a trillion dollars.

Step 2 has been a little bumpier. Right now, it’s possible for the smallest of loan recipients to spend a significant chunk of their PPP loan simply on the paperwork to navigate the forgiveness process.

Both Democrats and Republicans say that’s wrong and they have a fix. The problem? As stimulus negotiations have faltered, this somewhat simple bureaucratic change has been in limbo.

The idea is to allow small businesses to “have a little bit easier process of getting the loan forgiven and the lending institutions would also be able to have a more streamlined process,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

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