According to Zerohedge, the Trump administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) — the relief package sent to small businesses devastated by the Wuhan virus— has been unevenly distributed across America.
Based on geographical figures, Central, Midwest, Rust Belt, and Southern states saw a higher percentage of loans approved, whereas coastal states witnessed fewer percentage of approvals.
Bloomberg reported that the findings were calculated through Evercore ISI estimates of eligible payrolls in each state. The findings suggest that $342 billion of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans were “unevenly distributed” in the first two weeks of the program’s launch.
New York witnessed a notable disparity in loan approvals. As of April 13, SBA loan approvals were as low as 23 percent. Other states had significantly higher levels of loan approvals for small businesses. Right before the loan program ran out of money, approved loans in the state spiked to 40 percent from the original 23 percent.
According to Ernie Tedeschi, an Evercore analyst, the most impacted states which implemented early lockdowns are having the most problems in trying to secure rescue loans.
Tedeschi observed that some companies in states most impacted by shutdowns did not apply for the loans because they wouldn’t have much of an impact. He also mentioned that some firms received loans more quickly in some states due to their friendlier relationship with community banks.
On a state by basis, it appears that Republican states witnessed a higher percentage of loan approvals than their Democrat counterparts.
Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who hails from California, caught on to this and tweeted last week:
“I’m hard-pressed not to think that this is political,” Speier stated. “Blue states like California got a pathetic number of loans.”
This disparity in loan approvals will likely be the next source of contention that Democrats will be exploiting in the next few weeks.
Republicans must be ready to defend their small business constituents from the incoming barrage of leftist attacks.
