Big states got the most in small business relief loans
Paycheck Protection Program a boon in California, Texas
WASHINGTON — Data released Monday by the Trump administration showed businesses in big states like California and Texas received the most in loans from the government’s small business relief program, with health care, professional services and construction among the sectors that have tapped the largest amount of funding.
Of the $521 billion allocated through the Paycheck Protection Program, about $68.2 billion went to companies in California. Another $41.1 billion flowed to Texas businesses, based on data from the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration, which are administering the program.
Nearly 5,000 companies received individual loans of $5 million to $10 million, according to the data. While the administration included ranges for the loan amounts, it did not include specific figures.
The information released Monday included names and employment data for companies that received more than $150,000 in loans. It also provided ZIP codes, industries and the number of “employees retained,” along with the lender that gave them the loan and when it was approved.
The figures did not include details on roughly $30 billion in loans that were returned as companies realized that they were not eligible for the program, worried they could not meet program requirements or gave back the money after public outcry about big firms getting funds.
The administration said the money allocated so far had helped support more than 50 million jobs. The share of overall small business payroll supported per state ranged from 72% in Virginia to 96% in Florida, according to the Treasury release.
The data showed that 601 companies said they would be retaining 500 employees, exactly the program limit.
The Paycheck Protection Program offers businesses with 500 or fewer employees loans that can be forgiven if the employer meets certain conditions, like using the bulk of funds to pay employees. An initial round of program funding was rapidly exhausted, but a second round saw slower demand, leaving the program with about $131.9 billion. President Donald Trump on Saturday signed legislation that extends the application deadline to
Aug. 8.
There was no apparent link between the amount of economic damage individual states have suffered amid the pandemic and how successful small businesses in a particular state were at accessing the loans, the data shows.
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas saw loan approvals of at least 90% of their eligible small business payroll, even though they rank among the least-affected states in terms of unemployment claims during the crisis. Two of the hardest-hit states for claims, New York and California, saw loan approvals equal to about three-quarters of eligible payrolls; by that measure, California companies would have received billions more from the program if they had seen approvals at the same rate as the four Plains states.