The federal CARES Act included $349 billion for forgivable paycheck protection loans for businesses with fewer than 500 employees. That funding ran out on April 16, after 1.7 million loans had been made nationwide.

A subsequent federal aid bill added $310 billion to the program. The Small Business Administration has released data on the approved second round loans through May 1. As of that date, the approved dollar amount of loans approved in this second round totaled $175.7 billion nationally.

The table below provides the numbers for Washington and the U.S. In round 2 so far, Washington businesses have received higher shares of both loans and loan amounts than they did in round 1.

When you add up all the loans made in round 1 and round 2 (so far), 80,709 loans have been approved for Washington businesses (2.1 percent of nationwide loans), to the tune of $12.0 billion (2.3 percent of the national amount).

Meanwhile, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has signed onto a letter (with 23 other attorneys general) asking Congress to make changes to the program. Among their requests: Limit access to the program to those truly in need; require lenders not to favor existing customers; allocate some funding exclusively for minority-owned small businesses; improve communication, transparency, and technical support; and add more flexibility.

On the flexibility point, the letter notes the current requirement that 75 percent of the loans must be used for salaries. As the Wall Street Journal reports, “That is proving to be a deal breaker for many small businesses with modest payrolls and high rent costs.” Note that this 75 percent requirement was not in the bill, but was determined by rule:

. . . not more than 25 percent of the loan forgiveness amount may be attributable to non-payroll costs. While the Act provides that borrowers are eligible for forgiveness in an amount equal to the sum of payroll costs and any payments of mortgage interest, rent, and utilities, the Administrator has determined that the non-payroll portion of the forgivable loan amount should be limited to effectuate the core purpose of the statute and ensure finite program resources are devoted primarily to payroll. The Administrator has determined in consultation with the Secretary that 75 percent is an appropriate percentage in light of the Act’s overarching focus on keeping workers paid and employed.