Louisiana Small Businesses Hurting, Await Federal Assistance Extension

Last week the federal small business loan program aimed at assisting hurting small businesses, ran out of money. Congress is looking to add more money to the program.

Congressional leaders and the Trump administration are said to be closing in on an approximately $470 billion deal to renew funding to the small-business loan program.

This is great news for Louisiana's mom-and-pops. Recent data has revealed that more than 30 percent of Louisiana's small business owners are at risk of closing their doors in the next 90 days.

A new report from Main Street America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, reveals that 81 percent of Louisiana small business owners surveyed have suspended storefront operations. More than half of them don't have online sales.

If the deal is passed, it would add about $310 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, which was overwhelmed by demand in the three weeks since Congress created it as part of a $2 trillion coronavirus rescue bill.

That program allowed banks to issue taxpayer-backed loans to small businesses to help them through the pandemic. The loans were supposed to go to businesses with fewer than 500 workers and would be forgivable if the companies kept workers on the payroll.