*Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced a bill in the Senate that will make $6 billion usable for small businesses struggling to overcome the financial challenges caused by the COVD-19 pandemic.
Cardin, who has been a consistent entrepreneurship advocate, aims through the bill to set up the Hard-Hit Small Business Relief Fund, which would shift the remaining funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 relief programs to make grants for qualifying small businesses.
The businesses would need to show proof they suffered significant losses over the past two years that COVID-19 ravaged the U.S. The SBA will be determining which small businesses are eligible for the fund.
The bill gives the SBA the power to define eligibility, but it also makes it clear that independent contractors, sole proprietorships, self-employed individuals, and tribally-owned small businesses are all qualified. Cardin is chair of the Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee.
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The bill also assigns the SBA the role of tracking and reporting all grants publicly and organizing an auditing process to enhance transparency.
“Our communities have regained a hard-earned sense of normalcy after the worst of COVID-19, but for many small businesses, the nightmare continues,” Cardin explained. “American small businesses are still struggling under unsustainable debt, ongoing supply chain delays, and workforce challenges that inhibit their ability to operate and grow their businesses.
He added: The Hard-Hit Small Business Relief Fund Act would make the approximately $6 billion in unused federal COVID-19 small business aid available to the small businesses that need help the most.”
Many small businesses have been hard-hit by the effects of the pandemic. Black-owned businesses have not been left out. The pandemic brought 40-year high inflation. About 40% of U.S. small businesses plan to boost prices by 10% or higher to neutralize the soaring operating costs, according to a survey done in April.
Another survey showed that 75% of small business owners are facing an increasing cost of their supplies. They are forced to make drastic decisions to realize profits.
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