How Government Betrayed Small Businesses During The Pandemic

Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Amanda Ballantyne.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin issued a warning to big, publicly traded companies that applied for and received taxpayer-backed loans through the Paycheck Protection Act.

Mnuchin gave them a May 18^th deadline to return the funds that were intended for small businesses, but so far few have done so even under threat of criminal liability.

Mnuchin’s demand came after intense scrutiny of whether companies met eligibility requirements or received preferential treatment from big banks.

The Treasury Department has been changing requirements on the fly in a program marked by chaos. Congress passed a new bill claiming to fix problems in the original PPP but critics say it was not enough.

Meanwhile, more than 36 million Americans have lost jobs and analysts project that 100,000 brick and mortar businesses could shutter in the next five years.

Amanda Ballantyne, Executive Director of the Main Street Alliance, a national network of 30,000 small business owners.

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