Sens. Young, Bennet Push for Bipartisan Small Business Loan Program

Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., are calling on congressional leaders to include a separate small business loan plan in the coronavirus relief bill package in a bipartisan effort to save the nation's employers and workers. 

"There are millions and millions of workers that are going to lose their jobs if these small businesses go away," Bennet said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" about their proposal, which would offer seven-year loans for companies that have up to 5,000 employees to help cover payroll and other expenses over the next six months. 

The long-term capital loan would be for the hardest-hit businesses, based on the amount of revenue the business lost from the beginning of the pandemic to its end, said Young.

"We were able to pass the Paycheck Protection Program," Young commented. "That helped out tens of millions of Americans stay attached to their employer and helped a lot of businesses stay solvent at this time, but they're going to require additional assistance ... the terms of the loan, of course, will be favorable so that our Main Street businesses will survive this pandemic and remain engines of our economy on the back end.

Forgiveness is critical, Bennet said, so companies aren't swamped in new debt while trying to stay open. 

"That's one of the big differences between this program and the Paycheck Protection Program," said Bennet. "In order to be eligible for these loans, you have to be able to show that your revenue has declined as a result of the pandemic."

There were businesses who got PPP money, even though they had lost little in the pandemic, Bennet added, and "we don't think that's right."

Bennet said that for about $300 billion in equity, $1 trillion worth of loans can be leveraged, and he thinks that reflects the magnitude of the response needed. 

"What Todd and I are trying to do is everything we can do to make sure that when the lights start to go on again, America's small businesses are still here."

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