Rep. Hank Johnson cast vote for expanded Payroll Protection Program, Health Care Enhancement Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) has announced his support of H.R. 266, the $484 billion Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which will now go to the President’s desk for his signature.

Johnson was in the Chamber and voted in support of the bill.

“Unfortunately, some of the funds allocated to the Paycheck Protection Program in the first CARES Act were made accessible to large corporations,” said Johnson. “These are businesses that were going to float, but still grabbed all the life vests, leaving small-and medium-sized businesses to drown. Critically, in this supplemental package, we must ensure that funds allocated for small businesses are made accessible to small businesses alone – I did not go to Congress to allocate funds for corporate greed, while the American people suffer.”

The interim emergency funding package will provide the emergency resources that are desperately needed to sustain the life and death fight to protect the lives and livelihoods of the American people.

Democrats worked to ensure the package included hospitals and health workers and aid for most vulnerable small businesses on Main Street. The $484 billion Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act will:

• Strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program with $310 billion in additional funding, with $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions and $30 billion for medium-sized banks and credit unions. It expands small business support beyond PPP by securing $50 billion for SBA disaster lending, translating into more than $350 billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA disaster grants. It also secures strong protections to ensure that our nation’s farmers have access to this vital assistance.

• Protect hospitals and health care workers: Democrats secured $75 billion to provide resources to the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment. The Administration has also agreed to key improvements to be made in CARES 2, including significantly lowering the interest rate on advance payments, lengthening the repayment schedule and distributing payments from general revenues not the Hospital Insurance Fund.

• Provide $25 billion for testing, which is the key to reopening the economy and resuming our lives. The Administration has agreed to a national strategic testing policy that will focus on increasing domestic testing capacity including testing supplies.