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Washington, D.C.—Today, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and twelve Committee Democrats wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza asking the agencies to immediately begin publishing the demographic data of recipients of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The letter comes in response to the Administration’s failure to issue guidance to prioritize lending to underserved businesses despite the intent of Congress to make it easier for minority-, and women-owned small businesses to access these programs. Without demographic data, Congress is left in the dark on who is being approved or denied, at what rates, what funding levels, and the time borrowers spend waiting. 
 
       “As members of the House Committee on Small Business, we have heard from countless minority-owned small businesses around the country who have either had trouble accessing or been denied outright for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. In light of these reports, we request that you immediately begin publishing demographic data, disaggregated by race, regarding these programs. More transparency will allow Congress to determine which communities and businesses have been underserved by the programs and address those access issues accordingly.”
 
The full letter is available here.