The House will take up a bill allocating 200 million dollars of the 1.8 billion dollar CARES Act federal funding for the state to small business grants.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses backs the legislation. State Director Dawn Starns says many small businesses are still at risk of going under.
“Our goal is to reboot mainstreet, with this grant program. Rebooting mainstreet will get local and state economies back to where they need to be,” says Starns.
But Governor John Bel Edwards says that money needs to be set aside to help local governments cover revenue losses from the shutdown. Edwards says it is the intent behind those federal funds.
“So I received a letter from the entire Louisiana Congressional Delegation asking that we honor that in Louisiana even though the act it self does not absolutely require it,” says Edwards.
Edwards mentioned Senator John Kennedy is working on an effort to give states even more flexibility about how their CARES Act money is used.
The Governor says the feds could allocate additional funds dedicated to businesses in the future, but may not offer any more for local governments.
But Starns says without swift action many businesses may close, permanently damaging local tax bases.
“The goal would be for this program to be via a grant program, get it out to small buisinesses owners with 50 or fewer as fast as possible,” says Starns.
The bill cleared the Senate unanimously and is awaiting final passage Thursday in the House.
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