The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Companies tied to DeLauro, Streicker got small business loans
WASHINGTON — In the race for Congress in Connecticut’s 3rd District, companies with ties to both candidates have received Paycheck Protection Program loans.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, and Margaret Streicker, her Republican challenger, are not a rarity. Millions of dollars worth of the forgivable small business loans have flowed to companies linked to members of Congress and their families, as well as congressional candidates, during the pandemic.
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, the Democratic polling firm founded by DeLauro’s husband, Stanley Greenberg, and run by their daughter, Anna Greenberg, received a forgivable PPP loan of between $350,000 and $1 million on April 30, according to the Small Business Administration.
Stanley Greenberg no longer has any ownership share or involvement in the management of GQR, nor any knowledge of GQR’s decisions, a spokeswoman for DeLauro said. When he owned the Washington, D.C.-based company in 2016, it was worth $5 million to $25 million, DeLauro’s 2017 financial disclosure form, required of members of Congress and candidates, showed.
DeLauro has no knowledge of GQR’s involvement with the loan program, her spokeswoman said.
Streicker, also sought a PPP loan for her business. Her real estate management company, Fortitude
Capital LLC, received a loan of $150,000 to $300,000 on April 27, SBA data shows. As a result of the loan, her company retained all but one salaried person, she said.
“My company was an emergency service provider so we had to augment our staff and clean with more frequency and so forth,” said Streicker.
Streicker isn’t taking a salary from the company, she said. She reported income of $100,001 to $1,000,000 from her ownership of Fortitude Capital in the first six months of 2020, her financial disclosure form shows.
Streicker founded Fortitude Capital in Dec. 2019, after 15 years of operating another real estate management business Newcastle Realty Services in New York City. Streicker lent her campaign $350,000 this year, Federal Election Commission filings show.
No rules forbid companies associated with members of Congress or candidates from benefiting from the Paycheck Protection Program during the coronavirus pandemic. But members of Congress do have the unique position of voting on the funding and structure of the program.
Other congressional recipients from around the country include:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, held investments in two companies in the hospitality industry. They received at least $2.4 million in PPP loans, SBA data shows.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and his wife jointly own KTAK Corporation, which operates multiple McDonald’s restaurant locations around Tulsa, Oklahoma. KTAK received a PPP loan between $1 million and $2 million in early April, SBA data shows.
The construction company of U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., got a PPP loan of at least $350,000, SBA data shows. The almond processing company of U.S. Rep. TJ Cox, D-Calif, received a loan between $150,000 and $350,000,
SBA data shows.
More members could have ties to companies that received loans than are currently known. The SBA only published the names of companies that received PPP loans over $150,000. Its justification was that loan size is reflective of a company’s payroll and thus can reveal important business information about a company.
But the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, a panel of inspectors general supervising the government’s coronavirus spending, has requested the SBA release additional loan data, revealing the names of recipients of loans $25,000 and up, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Although negotiations are currently stalled, there is bipartisan agreement in Congress that the next coronavirus legislative package should include more small business relief, likely tailored to those companies or industries that can demonstrate significant revenue impacts from the enduring pandemic.
“Of course we urgently need another coronavirus relief package, and it must include additional relief for small businesses, the backbone of our local economies,” DeLauro said.
Streicker expressed support for more business aid, too. She said it would be helpful if small businesses could get retroactive payroll relief during the pandemic, not just forward looking. She also floated the ideas of payroll and property tax holidays to support struggling businesses.
“We’re all in a tough place,” she said. “I don’t think anyone imagined it would take this long to reboot the economy.”