Bills
| 3.23.22

$484 Billion to Replenish Small Business Loan Programs, Reimburse Healthcare Providers, and Scale Up COVID-19 Testing & Tracing Capacity (H.R. 266)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 266?

(Updated July 9, 2020)

(UPDATE - 4/21/20): This bill has been amended to serve as the legislative vehicle for the “phase 3.5” coronavirus relief package. In its original form, the bill provided FY2019 funding for public land agencies & the Environmental Protection Agency. It has been amended to become the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act — which would provide $484 billion in funding for small business relief, healthcare providers, and COVID-19 testing & tracing capacity. A breakdown of its current provisions can be found below.

SMALL BUSINESS PROVISIONS

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): This section would increase funding for the PPP, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses, by a total of $321 billion. It would also set aside funds to be distributed by smaller financial institutions, including:

  • $30 billion from banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions with assets between $10 billion & $50 billion.

  • $30 billion from banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions with less than $10 billion assets.

Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL): This section would provide a total of $60 billion in funding for the Small Business Administration’s EIDL program which provides direct, low-interest, long-term disaster loans, including:

  • $50 billion that would be leveraged into more than $350 billion in loans for small businesses.

  • $10 billion for the EIDL grants program, which gives small businesses access to a quick capital infusion worth up to $10,000 each.

Additionally, EIDL eligibility would be extended to agricultural enterprises with 500 or fewer employees.

HEALTHCARE

Hospitals & Healthcare Providers: This section would provide $75 billion to reimburse hospitals and other healthcare providers amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Eligible entities include public entities, Medicare & Medicaid enrolled suppliers & providers, and other for-profit or not-for-profit entities that provide diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. Funds from this section will be used to reimburse them for things such as: 

  • The treatment of uninsured patients diagnosed with COVID-19. 

  • Expenses or lost revenues that are attributable to coronavirus.

  • Building or constructing temporary structures, leasing properties, establishing emergency operation centers, retrofitting facilities, and building surge capacity.

  • Purchasing medical supplies & equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE), and testing supplies.

  • Workforce increases and training for COVID-19.

Funding from this section couldn’t be used to reimburse expenses or losses that have been reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are obligated to reimburse.

Testing & Tracing: This section would provide a total of $25 billion in funding for COVID-19 testing & tracing capacity. These resources would fund the manufacture, procurement, distribution, and administration of tests, such as rapid point-of-care tests; support epidemiology efforts at academic, commercial, public health, and hospital laboratories to conduct surveillance & contact tracing.

Of the total, $11 billion would be set aside for state & local governments for purchasing, administering, processing, and analyzing COVID-19 tests, in addition to supporting COVID-19 surveillance & tracing activities.

Miscellaneous:

  • The Office of Management and Budget is given administrative discretion to shift funding between the Food & Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Public Health & Social Services Emergency Fund.

Argument in favor

This bipartisan bill would replenish the popular Paycheck Protection Program so that it can provide more forgivable loans to American small businesses experiencing hardship during the pandemic. It would also provide funds for reimbursing healthcare providers and expanding COVID-19 testing & tracing capacity throughout the nation.

Argument opposed

It may be bipartisan, but this “phase 3.5” COVID-19 relief bill doesn’t do enough to address many facets of the COVID-19 response and it’s unclear how soon Congress will be able to come together and pass a more robust “phase 4” package. State & local governments need significant funding to plug gaps in their budgets.

Impact

Small businesses; hospitals & healthcare providers; governmental entities involved with COVID-19 testing & tracing.

Cost of H.R. 266

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered the following statement on the package to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program & increase funding for hospitals and testing capacity:

“Republicans never wanted this crucial program for workers and small businesses to shut down. We tried to pass additional funding a week before it lapsed. But Democratic leaders blocked the money and spent days trying to negotiate extraneous issues that were never on the table. I am grateful our colleagues have walked away from those demands and will finally let Congress act… I welcome this bipartisan agreement and hope the Senate will quickly pass it once members have reviewed the final text. I am just sorry that it took my colleagues in Democratic leadership 12 days to accept the inevitable, and that they shut down emergency support for Main Street in a search for partisan ‘leverage’ that never materialized. The American people are counting on Congress to put aside reflexive partisanship and work across the aisle to help our nation through this pandemic.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) & House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released the following joint statement about this funding package:

“It is unfortunate that Republicans’ refusal to negotiate in a bipartisan way delayed agreement on this legislation. Now, Congress will move swiftly to bring this legislation to the Floor and pass it this week, so that we can bring desperately-needed resources to those who are suffering. As soon as it has passed in the House, we will advance CARES 2, which must be transformative and far-reaching. CARES 2 must recognize that the key to getting Americans back to work and ensuring economic security is putting the health and safety of the American people first and defeating this terrible virus.”

This “phase 3.5” COVID-19 relief package builds on funding provided in the “phase 3” CARES Act, which established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and a Public Health & Social Services Emergency Fund. 

  • The CARES Act provided $349 billion in funding for the PPP for forgivable small business loans. The PPP exhausted its initial $349 billion in funding on April 16th, two weeks after it launched and one week after Democrats blocked an effort to increase its funding by $251 billion through a “clean” standalone bill.

  • The CARES Act established a $127 billion Public Health & Social Services Emergency Fund, which included $100 billion for the reimbursement of hospitals & healthcare providers, and $16 billion to obtain medical supplies for federal & state response efforts and the Strategic National Stockpile. 

  • The CARES Act also allowed medical supplies such as COVID-19 diagnostic tests to be added to the Strategic National Stockpile.

The Senate passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act on a voice vote.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / Weedezign)