The Republican-controlled Senate approved a $484 billion coronavirus relief package on Tuesday night. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday. If passed, more than $300 billion of that money will go toward replenishing a small business loan program. The program ran out of money late last week, and has come under increasing scrutiny over who got loans and how banks handled the money. But even with more funding, the federal loan program still might not be enough to offset the deep economic damage the pandemic is causing.
“This is just a kind of intermediate bill to kind of keep us going, and to make sure that we provide more funding for the PPP program,” says California Congressman Gil Cisneros.