During a virtual meeting of the Senate Jobs Committee yesterday, Senator Paul Anderson presented SF 4481. The bipartisan bill appropriates $20 million to the Small Business Emergency Loan program. The legislation also establishes Small Business Relief Grants using $10 million from funds allocated to the state from the federal CARES Act.
“Every day we hear devastating stories from small businesses across Minnesota who are suffering tremendous financial losses due to the COVID outbreak,” said Senator Anderson. “Running a small business is challenging enough during normal times. The sudden economic turndown and the shelter-in-place orders have brought many of those businesses to the brink of permanent closure.”
The Small Business Relief Grants will be split evenly between the seven-county metro area and Greater Minnesota, with each region receiving $5 million. Of the $5 million to each region, $1 million is allocated for micro-businesses, which are identified as businesses with five-or-less full-time employees and assets and sales less than $250,000 per year.
Eligible businesses must be located in Minnesota, employ ten or fewer full-time staff, or five or fewer for micro-businesses, and demonstrate financial hardship as a result of COVID-19. Grants can be used for working capital to support payroll expenses, rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, and other similar business expenses.
Once approved, the business could receive up to $10,000.
“This bill will not remove all the pain and suffering for our small businesses, but it can bring the needed hope, and a lifeline, for our small businesses to help get them through the next few weeks,” said Anderson. “By providing the needed relief for our entrepreneurs, workers, and their families, we can help our mom-and-pop stores and our shops on main street Minnesota not only survive but come back stronger than ever.”
SF 4481 passed the Senate Jobs Committee with a unanimous vote and now heads to the Senate Finance Committee.
For additional details on the bill, click here.