Congress Passes Revisions To The Paycheck Protection Program

Yesterday, Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act ("PPP Flexibility Act") that revises the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") to provide borrowers with additional time and flexibility to use loans and obtain forgiveness.

The bill was adopted in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 417-1 and in the Senate by a voice vote.  Authorized by the CARES Act and implemented by the Small Business Administration ("SBA") and Treasury, the PPP has to date supported over 4.5 million loans totaling $510 billion (out of $659 billion in capacity) to small businesses affected by the pandemic.  Despite its popularity, the PPP has been hampered in part by restrictions on borrowers' use of proceeds and uncertainty regarding loan forgiveness terms.  The bill is designed to reduce those impediments in light of an apparently longer and deeper economic slowdown than Congress anticipated when the Program was initially authorized in late March.  The PPP