The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has run out of money and is closed to new applicants four weeks before it was scheduled to expire,
the New York Times reported. The Small Business Administration on Tuesday broke the news to lenders and trade groups, saying that the roughly $292 billion that had been allocated to the program was now close to exhausted. Consequently,the PPP will be closed to new applicants well before the expected May 31 deadline. While some $8 billion remains, it is designated only for community financial institutions, which will be allowed to continue processing applications until that money runs out. For everyone else, the program is effectively over.
Through the course of the pandemic, the PPP has paid out $780 billion to businesses over the course of several rounds of funding. The first round ran out
in just weeks, which sparked public anger when it was revealed that
large corporations had found ways to tap into the ostensible small business program. The second round of funding, while
expected to run out just as fast, lasted
longer than anticipated. In fact,
when the June 30 deadline came, the fund still had $130 billion left. The third round of funding, which was authorized in
December and boosted in March via the American Rescue Plan Act, lasted even longer.
Certain members of Congress, such as Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) have expressed an openness to adding more money, but so far there has been little movement in the legislature to do so.