Durbin to SBA: Allow Farms and AG Businesses to Access EIDL Program
SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged the Small Business Administration (SBA) to allow farms and agricultural businesses suffering economic injury due to COVID-19 be acknowledged as eligible for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The EIDL program provides low-interest federal loans of up to $2 million, which may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that cannot be paid due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to Administrator Jovita Carranza, Durbin urged the SBA to allow farms and agricultural businesses to access these critical funds.
“Conventionally, agricultural enterprises are eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance programs and in the past have been excluded by SBA from EIDL to avoid duplication of assistance. USDA disaster assistance programs, however, are designed to assist with physical damage from natural disasters and weather events, and cannot assist agricultural enterprises and farms that are experiencing financial and economic challenges from the marketplace disruptions and the workforce social distancing requirements that have resulted from the current disease pandemic,” Durbin wrote. “I urge SBA to adjust and clarify its guidance to allow this critically important sector to seek assistance from the new COVID-19 EIDL program.”
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
April 9, 2020
Dear Administrator Carranza:
Section 1110 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136) expands eligibility for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). I am writing to request that farms and agricultural businesses suffering economic injury due to COVID-19 be acknowledged as eligible for EIDL during the covered timeframe.
Conventionally, agricultural enterprises are eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance programs and in the past have been excluded by SBA from EIDL to avoid duplication of assistance. USDA disaster assistance programs, however, are designed to assist with physical damage from natural disasters and weather events, and cannot assist agricultural enterprises and farms that are experiencing financial and economic challenges from the marketplace disruptions and the workforce social distancing requirements that have resulted from the current disease pandemic.
At present, the SBA website appears to prohibit farms and agricultural businesses from accessing the EIDL program. The definition established under CARES does not exclude farms and agricultural enterprises. I urge SBA to adjust and clarify its guidance to allow this critically important sector to seek assistance from the new COVID-19 EIDL program.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this request.
Sincerely,
-30-