WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY-05) in leading Democratic lawmakers in calling for the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department to ensure that minority-owned businesses are not shut out of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The lawmakers also called for the Administration to amend guidance on PPP, to reaffirm lending institutions’ obligation to comply with fair lending laws and to require lenders to report on the demographics of any PPP lending.
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“As we work to secure additional funding for the survival of small businesses across the country, it is crucial that we can verify the accessibility of federal assistance to all eligible companies. Without stringent reporting, we can neither confirm racial disparities nor correct any exclusionary lending practices under the Paycheck Protection Program. The story of minority-owned businesses struggling to access capital is the story of banking practices that too often exclude people of color as potential customers. A federally guaranteed loan program must not do the same. We urge you to move forward with the data transparency and fair lending protections outlined in this letter,” wrote the lawmakers.
Joining Durbin, Duckworth, Harris, and Brown were Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
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