Rep. Pappas Announces PPP Has Helped Retain Over 123,000 First District Jobs

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) announced today that 123,130 First District jobs have been retained thanks to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), helping 14,544 employers pay their workers and keep their lights on during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress authorized the creation of the PPP and other small business lending programs as part of the CARES Act, which Congressman Pappas supported and worked to pass.

According to partial data released by the Small Business Administration this week, 14,544 loans were awarded to First District small businesses totaling over $1.1 billion in loans. Statewide, New Hampshire small businesses have received more than $2.5 billion in PPP loans.

"The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been a lifeline for tens of thousands Granite State small businesses, allowing over 123,000 First District workers to keep their jobs, and for more than 14,000 small businesses to keep their lights on," said Congressman Pappas. "I have fought hard to improve the PPP based on hundreds of conversations with NH small businesses so that it works to meet their needs, and have led calls for transparency and accountability to ensure that taxpayers have a full accounting of where their money is going. This partial release of data underscores how important this program has been for our Main Street economy, but more support is needed to fight this pandemic and get our economy safely reopened. That's what I am fighting for every day in Congress."

Congressman Pappas supported the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which established the Paycheck Protection Program. Since then, he has been relentless in his efforts to improve the program for small businesses in New Hampshire, including introducing legislation and leading calls on the Administration and Congressional Leadership to take action to support small businesses.

Pappas introduced bipartisan legislation to improve coordination between the Paycheck Protection Program and the Employee Retention Tax Credit to better support struggling businesses. He also called on the Treasury Department to ensure that the PPP was better tailored to meet the needs of Granite State businesses.

As the deadline for PPP applications was expiring, leaving billions of dollars still unclaimed, Pappas called on House leadership to bring up a vote on the application extension before the House adjourned for the 4th of July - the House did take up the bill, which was signed into law by President Trump.

Pappas also called on House leadership to improve the loan conditions of the PPP and other details of the program based on hundreds of conversations he had with Granite State small businesses. These improvements were included in the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, which Pappas advocated for and helped to pass.

Rep. Pappas has repeatedly called for greater transparency and accountability of the PPP, and was part of the Congressional call which resulted in the Treasury Department reversing course and making partial PPP data publicly available.