ACLU Comment on House Passage of SBA Loan Deadline Expansion

WASHINGTON — The House today passed a Senate bill that would extend the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application deadline from June 30 to August 8 — providing small business owners and workers an additional five weeks to apply for and access relief to stay financially afloat in the wake of COVID-19’s massive economic impact.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Public Interest Law Center, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and co-counsel firms Jenner & Block and Weil, Gotshal & Manges filed a lawsuit challenging the SBA’s interim final rule and application form barring individuals with certain conviction histories from applying for PPP loans. On June 29, a federal court determined the SBA’s interim rule denying small business owners with arrest and conviction histories eligibility for its PPP without explanation unlawful, meaning individuals with such histories who were previously excluded now have a chance to apply and access this relief under the extension.

ReNika Moore, director of the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, had the following comment:

“The House’s extension opens up access to this vital economic relief for small business owners with arrest and conviction histories – a group that is disproportionately Black and Latinx — who were unlawfully excluded from accessing this relief previously. As taxpayers, all small business owners and workers should have a fair chance of accessing this economic lifeline. The SBA must do away with policies that unfairly exclude Black and Brown entrepreneurs.”

More information on the case is available here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/defy-ventures-inc-v-small-business-administration

A video on the case is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwnqEv7__mc&feature=youtu.be