Communities of Color
Black Woman-owned Businesses Received Disproportionately Few PPP Loans
We released a new analysis showing Trump’s poorly designed, poorly implemented Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) gave a disproportionately small share of available funds to businesses owned by Black women.
With Just One Day Left of PPP, Black Americans Shut Out of Relief at Every Turn
New reporting from the New York Times illustrates how the Trump administration and Senate lawmakers are seeking to drastically cut pandemic relief benefits — a move that will disproportionately harm Black communities.
With Three Days Left Until PPP Expires, Still No Relief for Black-owned Businesses
With only three days left before Trump’s Paycheck Protection Program is set to expire, Congress has yet to put forth a relief bill that includes enhanced transparency measures to combat the abuse, fraud, and failures of the program’s first iteration. One such failure is the inequitable distribution of PPP funds: an analysis by Accountable.US found a stark contrast in the allocation of small business funding, favoring congressional districts with the lowest percentage of Black residents over those with the highest percentage of Black residents.
New Fed Report Shows Trump Admin Failed Black-owned Businesses
A new report from the Federal Reserve today found that the economic fallout from COVID-19 hit Black-owned businesses particularly hard. The report emphasizes the acute concentration of coronavirus cases in majority-Black communities nationwide, and the hardships businesses in those communities have faced as a result. The Fed report estimated that a devastating 41% of Black-owned businesses across the U.S. were forced to close between February and April during the height of the crisis.
Report: Congressional Districts with Highest Percentage of Black Residents Severely Shortchanged by SBA PPP
The Trump SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program was billed as a lifeline for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. But recent data and reports on the program have shown its failure to sufficiently aid minority-owned businesses. An original analysis of PPP data by government watchdog Accountable.US, spotlighted by Reuters, shows Congressional Districts with the largest percentages of black residents received significantly less money than CDs with the smallest percentage of black residents – a disparity that amounts to tens of billions of dollars.
Senate Hearing Highlights How Horribly Trump Admin Has Failed Minority-Owned Businesses
Thursday’s Senate Committee on Small Business hearing examined how badly the Trump administration has failed to provide adequate financial assistance to businesses in communities of color struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of helping mom-and-pop shops and small local operators, millions of dollars from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) were funneled to wealthy and well-connected publicly-traded companies. In fact, one survey reviewing applications in May found only 12% of Black and Latinx business owners received the SBA relief they had applied for.
REPORT: Wells Fargo reported giving only one large PPP loan to a Black-owned business
According to new reporting by Salon, of the more than 12,000 SBA Paycheck Protection Program loans that Wells Fargo handled valued at $150,000 or higher, the bank reported distributing only one PPP loan to a Black-owned business. Additionally, unlike other lenders, Wells Fargo neglected to disclose any job retention data for over 8,000 of these loans and reported ZERO jobs saved for the remainder of the 12,000+ loans it made. The other 4 biggest U.S. banks only neglected to report jobs data on only about 290 of the more than 78,000 PPP loans they handled.
Trump Recession Deepens as 1.3 Million More File for Unemployment, PPP Still Leaving Small Businesses Behind
The U.S. economy fell further into recession as 1.3 million more workers entered the unemployment ranks this week. Yet with enhanced benefits set to run out in a matter of days and despite 75% public support for extending them, the President’s allies in Congress are considering drastic reductions as the struggles of out-of-work families compound. And while the Trump SBA’s corrupt and mismanaged Paycheck Protection Program has been extended, lawmakers did not bother to fix the program’s fundamental flaws that allowed 110,000 small businesses to shutter, especially in communities of color.
Only 143 Out Of Over 650,000 Large PPP Loans Go To Black-Owned Firms As Communities Of Color Continue To Call For Help From Trump Administration
Thursday’s House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing revealed that only 143 Black-owned firms received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan over 150 thousand dollars, showing just how badly the Trump administration has failed to provide adequate financial assistance to businesses in communities of color struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of helping mom-and-pop shops and small local operators, millions of dollars from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) PPP were doled out to wealthy and well-connected publicly-traded companies. In fact, one survey looking at applications in the first part of May found just 12% of Black and Latinx business owners received the SBA relief they had applied for. Research from the University of California-Santa Cruz found 40% of Black-owned businesses are not expected to survive the coronavirus crisis.
Trump has failed minority-owned businesses. Here’s how Congress can help.
In recent months, hundreds of thousands of small businesses have turned off their lights, potentially never to reopen. A disproportionate number of those businesses were owned by people of color in underserved communities. Our government’s systematic failure to support small businesses did not happen by accident. If we fail to change course, our small businesses may never recover.
Industry Bailouts
REPORT: Trump SBA Gave Up To $15.8M In Small Business Relief To Law Enforcement Orgs
As protests over police brutality and systemic racism in the U.S. justice system continues across the nation, a new analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US finds that nearly 40 different police-affiliated organizations have received as much as $15.8 million in COVID-19 relief aid from the Trump administration. At least sixteen law enforcement organizations received nearly $14 million from the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the CARES Act program that was billed as a lifeline for struggling mom-and-pop businesses to weather the pandemic. The remainder of organizations were awarded money under the less prominent Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
Senator McConnell’s Not-So-Skinny Relief Package For Coal and Mining Special Interests Failed For A Reason
After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell carved out upwards of $184 million for coal and coal byproduct development in his ‘skinny’ relief package that would have potentially flowed into his home state of Kentucky, Accountable.US released details on the special interest funding that was included in the package — as well as additional research that shows the legislation would have been a boon for uranium mining and other mining special interests.
Big Oil Going Bankrupt, Laying Off Workforce Despite Billions In Taxpayer-Backed Bailouts
Even after Big Oil and the favored fossil fuel industry soaked up upwards of $8.6 billion in taxpayer-backed bailouts and environmental regulatory enforcement breaks from the Trump administration, the sector continues to shed workers and experience bankruptcies at an unprecedented rate despite Trump’s baseless claims.
Trump & Allies Aim to Help Industry Execs As Workers Face Cliff
New reports indicate that President Trump and his allies are once more looking out for big corporations as they plan for another relief package — but remain virtually silent for workers.
With additional unemployment benefits from the CARES Act slated to expire soon, Americans desperately need support from Washington. But rather prioritizing benefits and assistance to workers and their families, the Trump administration is looking to a tax credit cash-out and payroll tax cut to help out wealthy corporate executives.
Big Oil Cashes In While Renewable Energy Given Paltry Support
After reporting last week in The Guardian revealed that some 5,600 Big Oil and fossil fuel industry companies had reeled in between $3 and $6.7 billion in Payroll Protection Program (PPP) monies meant for small businesses, Accountable.US found that only 239 wind and solar companies received a maximum of $188 million in PPP funds.
Administration & Congressional Mismanagement
With Two Days Left of PPP, Congress Packing Up for Vacay?
Many small businesses teeter on the brink of shutting down, Trump’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is slated to expire in just two days — with no replacement in sight. While congressional leaders have signaled their support for additional small business assistance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested the Senate may soon adjourn for vacation with no new relief package passed, and no additional support for the millions of jobless Americans whose enhanced $600 unemployment benefits ran out last week.
IG Points Out More Fraud in Trump SBA Grant Program
Late this afternoon, Small Business Administration (SBA) Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware sent a memorandum outlining his concerns about fraud and abuse in the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Advance grant programs to the agency’s administrator, Jovita Carranza.
As 1.4 Million More Lose Jobs and Income Cliff Looms, Trump’s Senate Allies Eye Unemployment Benefit Cuts While Still Overlooking PPP’s Failures
The U.S. economy slipped further into recession as 1.4 million more workers entered the unemployment ranks this week – marking the 18th straight week that over a million workers filed initial claims for jobless benefits. With the CARES Act’s enhanced benefits set to expire in most states at the end of the week, millions of families face an income cliff and great uncertainty. Yet despite 75% public support for extending them, the President’s allies in Congress are taking a hard line that any extension must include deep benefit cuts – threatening to slash over 20 million workers’ income by half. Meanwhile, Congress is refusing to address the flaws in the Trump SBA’s poorly designed and executed Paycheck Protection Program that allowed for over 110,000 small businesses to shutter, especially in communities of color.
MEMO: Admin’s Poorly Executed PPP Calls Into Question Design, Data and Dispensing of Taxpayer $
When Congress passed the CARES Act, it created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as a lifeline for small businesses struggling to survive the historic COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. For all the Trump administration’s talk of the program’s success, in reality, it failed in many ways.
Government Accountability Experts Discuss how Next PPP Must Include Proper Transparency, Oversight
Government accountability experts from Accountable.US, a nonpartisan watchdog group that exposes corruption across all levels of government, American Oversight, and Project on Government Oversight (POGO) discussed how Congress must redesign any new small business relief measure so that it is transparent, data-driven, and aligned with the needs of the communities that need the help the most.
Data Errors
New Bloomberg Analysis Shows PPP Data Riddled with Errors, Casting Doubt on Program’s Efficacy
A new Bloomberg analysis shows that the recently released data for more than $521 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are filled with errors — including loan amounts and number of jobs retained — raising more questions than answers on how the program was executed.
PPP Data Raise More Questions Than Answers
After weeks of stonewalling, the Trump administration acquiesced this week and released partial information on certain recipients under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), accounting for just 14% of recipients. Unfortunately, the error-riddled data that was released raises more questions than it answers on how the program was administered and on the integrity of the program as a whole.
Watchdog Calls on SBA IG to Investigate Irregularities in PPP Data
Following the partial release of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan data earlier today, Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig penned a letter to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) inspector general urging that he open an investigation into the irregularities in the data.
This week in PPP catastrophes…
Another week is ending, and we’re left with more questions than ever about the Trump administration’s limited data dump surrounding recipients of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.
Among Recipients: Wealthy, Well-Connected, and Federal Violations
NEW: More than 1,000 Publicly Traded Companies Got PPP Funds
Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reported that Potbelly, the large restaurant chain that gobbled up $10 million in small business relief funds through Trump’s faulty Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in March and returned it following public backlash, secured a new $10 million loan the day before the program’s expiration. This makes Potbelly, which boasts more than 450 stores and over 5,500 employees nationwide, just one of more than 1,000 publicly traded companies to cash in on PPP funds intended to help mom-and-pop businesses keep their employees on payroll through the COVID-19 crisis.
REPORT: Josh Kushner Portfolio Companies Received Nearly $3 Million In PPP Loans
New reporting from the New York Post revealed that at least five portfolio companies of Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm run by Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, grabbed up at least $2.8 million from the Trump SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Government watchdog Accountable.US called it another example of how the well-connected exploited the program at the expense of mom-and-pop shops across the country.
Recent Reports Show PPP Funds Went to the Wrong Businesses
Reports from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released in recent days highlight just how badly the Trump administration has failed workers and small business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s poorly designed, poorly implemented Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) allowed for the exclusion of actual mom-and-pop businesses as wealthy corporations and the Trump-connected cashed in.
Four days later, who we know got PPP funds…
After much stalling and handwringing, the Trump administration this week finally released limited information on recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). While the released data only represents 14% of the federal relief fund recipients and 75 percent of the money doled out, the trends are clear: this program was poorly designed, allowing big corporations with ties to the Trump administration, through donors or K-Street lobbyists, to exploit it while many actual small businesses got shut out.
BREAKING: Companies That Received Millions In Taxpayer-Funded Bailouts Have Extensive Federal Violations
A newly released investigation by The Guardian finds that a number of energy companies that took Payroll Protection Program (PPP) funds have been fined millions more for environmental and workplace safety violations.