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EIDL Emergency Grant Program Out of Funding

The SBA gave out $20 billion in advances to nearly 6 million businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

An emergency grant program set up to help small businesses weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been tapped out. The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced recently that it would no longer be issuing Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advances because the program has met the funding limit of $20 billion set by Congress. The SBA says it gave out emergency grants to nearly 6 million businesses.

The EIDL Advance program, created as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES act, offered grants of $1,000 per employee, up to a maximum of $10,000. Though the advances are no longer being issued, small businesses can still apply for a low-interest loan through the disaster relief program. Typically, the EIDL offered a maximum of $2 million for small businesses, but the SBA later dropped the cap to $150,000 due to high demand. The EIDL is a long-running SBA program, where small businesses affected by disasters can receive low-interest loans directly from the government. Previously, it had been used to provide assistance after natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, but the government expanded it to cover economic pain caused by the pandemic as well.

EIDL

The end of the EIDL Advance emergency grant program comes as many businesses have used up their other coronavirus relief, including the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and some states, like California, are reimposing societal shutdowns due to surges in coronavirus infection rates. A Goldman Sachs survey released Tuesday, July 14 found that 84% of small-business owners who received PPP money will run out of the funds by the first week of August. Just 16% of businesses surveyed said they would be able to continue paying employees beyond July. The Goldman Sachs survey also found that 63% of small businesses report that less than three-quarters of their pre-COVID-19 revenue has come back. And, only 37% of respondents believe their business can survive another coronavirus wave that necessitates more shutdowns.

Overseen by the SBA but facilitated by private banks, the PPP has more than $100 billion left for forgivable loans meant to offset payroll and certain other business costs. The deadline to apply for a PPP loan was recently extended to Aug. 8. Right now, small businesses were only able to apply for the PPP once; however, Congress has been considering allowing entrepreneurs to get a second round of funding through the program. The Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program (P4) Act would extend the deadline to apply to at least the end of the year, and businesses with fewer than 100 employees could apply for a second loan if they’ve used up or are likely to exhaust their first PPP loan or can show at least a 50% loss in revenue due to the pandemic.