On June 3, the Senate passed the AGC-backed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act of 2020 (H.R. 7010) after AGC members sent tens of thousands of messages seeking improvements to the PPP.
The measure makes significant improvements to the Paycheck Protection Program that AGC has been pushing for and its passage marks another legislative victory for the association. Among these improvements are: (1) Extending the amount of time that loan recipients can spend PPP funds, and qualify for loan forgiveness, from eight to 24 weeks; (2) Revising the uses of loan funds eligible for forgiveness from up to 75 percent in payroll costs/25 percent in non-payroll costs to up to 60 percent/40 percent, respectively; (3) Creating a safe harbor for employers that made a good faith effort to hire or re-hire qualified employees; (4) Extending the maturity of PPP loans from two to five years; and (5) allowing PPP loan recipients to defer payroll taxes through the end of 2020. Having passed the House on May 28, the bill goes to the president for his expected signature as soon as June 4. AGC will continue to fight for additional, necessary improvements to this loan program.