Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., responds to a question during an editorial board meeting at the Las Vegas Sun offices in Henderson Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 | 2 a.m.
CARSON CITY — Sen. Jacky Rosen is spearheading an effort to allocate more federal funding to small businesses as the economy continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rosen has introduced the Keeping Our Promise to Small Businesses Act, which would allocate funding to the federal Paycheck Protection Program to cover approved applications sent in before the program ran out of funds on May 4.
The measure would also add $5 billion to the program targeting small business with up to 100 employees in states with greater than 6% unemployment in March — which includes Nevada. It would also be sent out with preference for women, minority and veteran-owned small businesses.
“We really feel that this is going to impact small business, and, as you know, that’s the lifeblood of our community,” said Peter Guzman, president of the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce.
Rosen, in a statement, said that Congress has a responsibility to help businesses survive the economic impacts brought on the pandemic.
“Nevada’s small businesses are the engines that power our economy in the Silver State, and I will continue to work on forward-thinking legislation to help them overcome this difficult time and thrive,” Rosen said in a statement.
As of May 16, 68,391 PPP loans had been distributed in Nevada for a total of $2.58 billion.
The Paycheck Protection Program was first passed as a portion of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the first federal COVID-19 relief package passed in March 2020. Lawmakers in Washington have continued to further fund the program as the pandemic continued.
Sonny Vinuya, president of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce, said that there are businesses in Las Vegas unable to get into the program ahead of the money running out.
“Our small businesses are still in need of help,” Vinuya said. “My experience, personally, I’m a banker … and right on my desk as we speak, I have 18 Asian businesses … that were applying that could really use the money.”
Vinuya said he found the language barrier had stopped some Asian-American Nevadans from applying for the program. He worked to put together webinars with “trusted” community members to explain the opportunity.
“Once I did that, it really opened up,” he said.
Guzman said the extension will give more people an opportunity “at a bite of this apple.” Many businesses, he said, had been in touch with the chamber in support of the bill.
“I do know that many businesses have called into our office in support of this. The number was substantial,” he said.
