The Main Street Alliance, a national network of small business coalitions, recently released a statement regarding the April 21, 2020, Senate passage of the COVID-19 “Phase 3.5” bill. The aid package will prioritize $484 billion in funding for small businesses, hospitals, and coronavirus testing programs.

“For small business owners facing increasingly dire circumstances, additional funding for the existing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) are necessary but not nearly sufficient,” said Amanda Ballantyne, executive director of the Main Street Alliance. “The serious design flaws of the PPP will not be solved by throwing more money at these programs. Even the new inclusion of Community Development Financial Institutions and other dedicated funding for smaller lending institutions to meet the needs of minority-owned, unbanked and rural businesses around the country will not go far enough to secure our small business economy.