Senate Passes PPP Loan Application Extension Bill

During a Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing on Wednesday, "the SBA noted that two million PPP applications have been held up by error codes and approximately 190,000 applications remain unapproved," AICPA said. "This reinforces the great need for extending the loan application deadline."

Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, urged President Joe Biden "to quickly sign it into law."

The legislation "will help ensure that small businesses that have already applied for a PPP loan will be able to get that loan processed, rather than risk seeing this program end before their paperwork can be completed," Nichols said Thursday in a statement. "It will also provide more time for still-struggling small businesses that have not yet applied for a PPP loan to do so."

Banks of all sizes, Nichols added, "have stepped up during the pandemic to strongly support this unprecedented program and deliver more than $675 billion in PPP loans to small businesses, helping to support millions of jobs in the process. We will continue to work in partnership with the SBA to identify and address operational issues that are keeping the program from reaching its full potential."