The AVMA Advocacy staff has been closely monitoring COVID-19 legislative developments in Washington, DC. As you are aware, there has been a tremendous demand for the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Programs. As of April 13, the Small Business Administration reported that they have approved close to $259 million in PPP loans and Department of Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that without an infusion of new funds, PPP will run out of money as soon as Friday. Some media outlets are reporting that it will run out of funds on April 15. It has also been reported that the Small Business Administration has received over 3 million applications for EIDL, leading to SBA limiting the loans to $15,000-$25,000 so that more businesses can receive funds through this program.
We understand the concerns that have been raised about the application and approval process. It has been a rough roll out, and both Congress and the Administration are aware that there need to be improvements. The more immediate concern, however, is that businesses will not be able to access the loans because the programs run out of money. Congress needs to hear from us. To assist in this process, we have set-up an AVMA CAN call alert so you can call your Senators and Representatives and tell them about the importance of these loans to your business, and urge them to stop the political infighting and work together to add more funds to the loan programs as soon as possible. The AVMA CAN alert with suggested talking points can be found at http://avmacan.avma.org.
Please share with your colleagues and ask them to call their Member of Congress–even if they do not own a business. This program will benefit veterinary business owners, associates and staff.