57 Percent of Working Mainers Are Employed by Small Businesses, But Flaws in the Paycheck Protection Program Prevent them From Utilizing Funds While Big Corporations Have Already Pocketed Millions
Portland, MAINE — Today, the US Department of Labor announced 4.4 million Americans, including over 11,500 Mainers, have filed new claims for unemployment benefits in the past week.
As the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus deepens for Maine families, many small businesses, which employ nearly 60 percent of working Mainers, report the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) program is not working for them. But it is working for big businesses who are able to exploit loopholes in the bill, and have already received millions in PPP funds. Maine Senator Susan Collins, who pushed the current version of the PPP, has refused to make changes to the program in which the big banks have “prioritized the applications of their wealthiest clients before turning to other loan seekers,” according to the New York Times.
“Clearly, Susan Collins isn’t listening to Maine small business owners — and the hundred of thousands of Mainers they employ — who aren’t getting the help they need,” said Willy Ritch, executive director of 16 Counties Coalition. “Senator Collins is pushing to put billions more into a program where corporate shareholders are the winners, not Maine small businesses. We need her to focus on helping the little guys here in Maine, not protecting the profits of big corporations.”
According to many Maine small businesses, the PPP is failing to deliver for the Mainers it was supposed to help. Instead, the program is benefiting special interests and large corporations who are taking advantage of loopholes in the legislation. Even a new infusion of cash that Congress is expected to pass this week won’t fix the program’s fundamental flaws. So far, 88% of Maine small businesses have not received assistance from the PPP program.
