WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Rep. Dean Phillips introduced the Small Business Transparency and Reporting for the Underbanked and Taxpayers at Home (TRUTH) Act. The TRUTH Act would direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to explain and justify all disbursements of coronavirus relief funds, ensuring transparency and accountability from this critical agency. Original co-sponsors include Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Debra Haaland (D-NM) , John Garamendi (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Gregorio Sablan (I-MP)
The CARES Act, Payroll Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act together allocated more than $2 trillion to address the devastating coronavirus pandemic. However, to date, SBA has not provided full transparency over its administration of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL). This has led many to question the distribution of millions of dollars to well-financed institutions like the Los Angeles Lakers, while small businesses across the country remain without relief as their companies approach insolvency.
“The CARES Act was the largest distribution of taxpayer dollars in our nation’s history, and Americans deserve to know where their money is going,” Phillips said. “While we’ve managed to help millions of small businesses keep their lights on, millions more remain on the outside looking in. It won’t matter how much money we appropriate if the system by which it’s distributed is inaccessible to those who need it the most. As an entrepreneur and small business owner myself, I will be relentless in the pursuit of transparency and reforms necessary to ensure these programs work for all who need them to survive.” Continue reading “Rep. Phillips introduces TRUTH Act to ensure SBA transparency”