New PPP Act may save local businesses

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - A new PPP Flexibility Act may go into effect that will extend the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to August 8, 2020. The program was set to expire on June 30, 2020, but more than $130 billion in allocated funds remain unused.

The new bill, proposed by senate democrats, passed unanimously. Now the democratic-led house needs to act on the extension.

The program provided aid to small businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

Between February and May, companies with fewer than 500 employees lost 11.6 million jobs, or 18.4% of their workforce.

Shelley Niemann is the owner of Cedric’s Restaurant on W. Broadway in Idaho Falls. She says being shut down by the pandemic has been devastating for her business. Cedric's kept on employees that couldn’t obtain unemployment. Niemann says to continue paying them out of pocket would eventually burn through her entire retirement savings.

Niemann has owned Cedric’s for 26 years and she was determined to survive the pandemic.

The restaurant received an SBA loan from the government. Since then, Niemann has been able to bring her staff back to work and keep her business afloat. She says they are very diligent about sanitizing and maintaining social distance as much as possible.

She believes most small businesses will be fine due to the government’s decision to extend PPP.

The new PPP Flexibility Act will allow borrowers more time to spend their loans and still obtain forgiveness, up to 24 weeks from the initial eight weeks.

The Act also reduces mandatory payroll spending from 75% to 60%. Borrowers may also obtain full forgiveness even without fully restoring their workforce. Payroll taxes have also been delayed.

Time to pay off the loan has been extended to five years from the original two.