On April 21, The U.S. Senate reached a deal on a $484 billion funding package, to expand the popular Paycheck Protection Program, and increase funding for U.S. health systems, and expand COVID-19 testing and contract tracing capabilities. The funding package will now move to the U.S. House of Representatives, and is expected to receive a vote by Thursday morning this week.

Specifically, the package includes funding for the following:

• $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, with $60 billion dedicated to small lenders to address the needs of small businesses and nonprofits who may have been overlooked initially;
• $50 billion for the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program;
• $10 billion for the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Grant Program;
• $75 billion in emergency funding for hospitals
• $25 billion for disease testing

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled on a Tuesday interview that the full Senate must be in session before Congress considers a fifth funding package. The Senate is anticipating being called back to session for May 4th.

Click here to see MRAA’s FAQs on receiving funding and access our one-pager on the Paycheck Protection Program.

For more information, please reach out to MRAA government relations manager Adam Fortier-Brown at adam@mraa.com.