NAB Supports HEROES Lifeline Act

U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) Wednesday introduced the HEROES Small Business Lifeline Act— a comprehensive package of measures that would provide over $370 billion of support to the hardest-hit, most vulnerable small businesses, including minority-owned businesses and very small businesses that have been left behind in this pandemic, and industries, such as restaurants and live venues. The bill is nearly identical to the small business provisions of HEROES 2.0, which passed the House of Representatives on October 1.

The HEROES Small Business Lifeline Act would include:

• Extend and improve the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to better serve small businesses. HEROES 2.0 extends PPP through March 2021; provides a second PPP for the hardest-hit small businesses and nonprofits; expands eligibility to ensure that all nonprofits, regardless of size and type, critical access hospitals, and local news media can participate; simplifies the forgiveness process; repeals the requirement of deducting an EIDL advance from the PPP forgiveness amount; and removes limitations that unfairly restrict small businesses owned by formerly incarcerated individuals from securing a PPP loan.
• Extend and expand the Debt Relief program. HEROES 2.0 extends payments of principal, interest, and fees on all preexisting and new Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a), 504 and microloans for up to a year, with more relief targeted to existing borrowers in underserved markets and the hardest-hit sectors. This debt relief program is also expanded to include SBA’s physical and EIDL disaster loans.
• Support the smallest, most vulnerable businesses. HEROES 2.0 includes a new $40 billion Lifeline Grant program, of which half is set aside for undeserved businesses, that provides grants of up to $50,000 to vulnerable small businesses that have suffered a significant economic loss and creates a new $15 billion grant program for state and local governments to provide funds to vulnerable small businesses in their communities.
• Deliver targeted assistance to small businesses in struggling industries. HEROES 2.0 includes the Save our Stages (SOS) Act and the RESTAURANTS Act, which provide dedicated assistance for industries that rely on large gatherings, including restaurants, concert venues, and theaters.

In response to the introduction in the Senate yesterday of the HEROES Small Business Lifeline Act, which includes provisions to expand eligibility for U.S. Small Business Administration loan access to struggling local newspapers and radio and television stations, the following statement can be attributed to NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith:

Smith

“NAB applauds the inclusion of provisions in the HEROES Small Business Lifeline Act that would expand eligibility to Payroll Protection Program loans for local media outlets, including radio and television stations. These provisions would help local broadcasters weather unprecedented economic challenges while continuing to provide critical news and information about important issues affecting our communities.

"We thank Senators Schumer, Cantwell, Cardin, Shaheen, and Coons for the introduction of this critical legislation, and the many members of Congress who have voiced their support for America’s radio and TV stations during these difficult times. We also thank Speaker Pelosi and Chairwoman Velázquez for including similar provisions in the House-passed Heroes bill, and we appreciate the leadership of Reps. Cicilline and Sensenbrenner, Sens. Cantwell, Boozman, and Schumer, and their bipartisan cosponsors of standalone legislation in both Houses to provide this much-needed aid for local media.”

The expansion of PPP for local media would provide television and radio broadcasters, as well as newspapers, the same treatment as hotels and restaurants received under the original CARES Act PPP – eligibility based on a physical location basis.

In May, Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the Local News and Emergency Information Act in the House, standalone legislation that would expand eligibility for U.S. Small Business Administration loan access to struggling local newspapers and radio and television stations. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Boozman (R-AR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced the Local News and Emergency Information Act in the Senate, and the bill continues to garner bipartisan support.