Posted: | December 29, 2020 01:50 PM |
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From: | Representative Joe Ciresi and Rep. Pam Snyder |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | COVID-19 Grant Program for Ultra-Small Businesses |
Pennsylvania’s small businesses are the foundation of our state’s economy and local communities. Unfortunately, they have also been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is impacting not only the businesses but also the livelihood of their workers. To provide those small businesses with additional and needed relief for the hard times that they are facing during this outbreak, we are introducing legislation to create a $50 million grant program for our smallest businesses, which make no more than $3 million in gross annual receipts or employ up to 30 full-time employees. Small businesses are the backbone of many of our communities throughout Pennsylvania, and we feel it is essential that the Commonwealth put extra support towards ensuring they can make it through these tough times and continue once life returns to normal. This bill was introduced in the last session as HB 2452, and has been updated to allocate funding from the state’s Rainy Day Fund with the exhaustion of federal CARES Act money. While there have been previous business relief efforts, we have to make sure that there’s funding dedicated to help the smallest businesses, which often struggle to compete with larger businesses for competitive funding. Please join me in co-sponsoring legislation that will further protect and provide for our small businesses. Prior Co-Sponsors (As HB 2452): CIRESI, SNYDER, HOHENSTEIN, YOUNGBLOOD, MURT, ULLMAN, KOSIEROWSKI, FREEMAN, CEPHAS, SANCHEZ, ISAACSON, HANBIDGE, SCHLOSSBERG, RAVENSTAHL, SHUSTERMAN, OTTEN, HILL-EVANS, CONKLIN, MULLINS, DALEY, WILLIAMS, MALAGARI, SCHWEYER, A. DAVIS, FRANKEL, CALTAGIRONE, ROZZI, GALLOWAY, DERMODY, DONATUCCI, LEE, MADDEN, ROEBUCK, STURLA, DELLOSO, COMITTA and KORTZ |
Introduced as HB537