WASHINGTON, JUNE 3 – The International Franchise Association (IFA) today released the following statement on the Senate passage of H.R. 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act:
“America’s small businesses needed this bill,” said Matt Haller, IFA Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs. “By providing flexibility and certainty in how they can use PPP loans, small businesses – franchise or otherwise – can use this funding to stay in business, retain their employees, and give back to their communities.”
Prior to COVID-19, America’s 733,000 franchise businesses together employed more than 8 million Americans and contributed $675 billion to the nation’s economy.
H.R. 7010 would address the top PPP concerns voiced by franchises in a recent IFA survey, by:
- Allowing forgiveness for expenses beyond the 8-week covered period to 24 weeks and extending the rehiring deadline.
- Providing a “Borrower’s Choice” provision, which allows those who received PPP loans prior to enactment to choose for the covered period of their loan to either last 8 weeks or 24 weeks from origination.
- Increasing the current limitation on nonpayroll expenses (such as rent, utility payments and mortgage interest) for loan forgiveness from 25 to 40 percent.
- Lengthening the loan maturity date from 2 to 5 years for new loans.
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