Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, January 20, 2021 /Page 2A
Stye A&uattce
SBA Reopening Paycheck
Protection Program to Small
Lenders on Friday, January 15, and
All Lenders on Tuesday, January 19
K-12 public schools set for $1.7
billion in new COVID-19 aid in Georgia
Lenders with $1 Billion
or Less in Assets Will
be Able to Submit First
and Second Draw PPP
Applications on Friday
- Continuing Dedicated
Access for Community-
Based Lenders.
The U.S. Small
Business Administration,
in consultation with the
U.S. Treasury Department,
was to reopen the Paycheck
Protection Program (PPP)
loan portal to PPP-eligible
lenders with $1 billion or
less in assets for First and
Second Draw applications
on Friday, January 15,2021,
at 9 a.m. EST. The portal
is fully open on Tuesday,
January 19, 2021, to all
participating PPP lenders
to submit First and Second
Draw loan applications to
SBA.
Earlier in last week,
SBA granted dedicated
PPP access to Commu
nity Financial Institutions
(CFIs) which include
Community Development
Financial Institutions (CD-
FIs), Minority Depository
Institutions (MDIs), Certi
fied Development Compa
nies (CDCs), and Micro
loan Intermediaries as part
of the agency’s ongoing ef
forts to reach underserved
and minority small busi
nesses.
On Friday, SBA con
tinued its emphasis on
reaching smaller lenders
and businesses by open
ing to approximately 5,000
more lenders, including
community banks, credit
unions, and farm credit in
stitutions. Moreover, the
agency also plans to have
dedicated service hours for
these smaller lenders after
the portal fully reopens this
week.
“A second round of
PPP could not have come
at a better time, and the
SBA is making every effort
to ensure small businesses
have the emergency finan
cial support they need to
continuing weathering this
time of uncertainty,” said
SBA Administrator Jovita
Carranza. “SBA has worked
expeditiously to ensure our
policies and systems are re
launched so that this vital
small business aid helps
communities hardest hit
by the pandemic. I strongly
encourage America’s entre
preneurs needing financial
assistance to apply for a
First or Second Draw PPP
loan.”
“We are pleased to
have opened PPP loans
to CDFIs, MDIs, CDCs,
and Microloan Intermedi
aries. The PPP is already
providing America’s small
businesses hardest hit by
the pandemic with vi
tal economic relief,” said
Secretary of the Treasury
Steven T. Mnuchin. “As
the Program re-opens for
all First and Second Draw
borrowers next week, the
PPP will allow small busi
nesses to keep workers on
payroll and connected to
their health insurance.”
First Draw PPP Loans
are for those borrowers
who have not received a
PPP loan before August
8, 2020. The first round of
the PPP, which ran from
March to August 2020, was
a historic success helping
5.2 million small business
es keep 51 million Ameri
can workers employed.
Second Draw PPP
Loans are for eligible small
businesses with 300 em
ployees or less, that previ
ously received a First Draw
PPP Loan and will use or
have used the full amount
only for authorized uses,
and that can demonstrate
at least a 25% reduction
in gross receipts between
comparable quarters in
2019 and 2020. The maxi
mum amount of a Second
Draw PPP loan is $2 mil
lion.
Updated PPP Lender
forms, guidance, and re
sources are available at
www.sba.gov/ ppp and
www.treasury.gov/ cares.
About the U.S. Small
Business Administration
The U.S. Small Busi
ness Administration makes
the American dream of
business ownership a real
ity. As the only go-to re
source and voice for small
businesses backed by the
strength of the federal
government, the SBA em
powers entrepreneurs and
small business owners with
the resources and support
they need to start, grow or
expand their businesses,
or recover from a declared
disaster. It delivers services
through an extensive net
work of SBA field offices
and partnerships with pub
lic and private organiza
tions. To learn more, visit
www.sba.gov.
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia public schools
are set to receive about
$1.7 billion in federal CO-
VID-19 aid as part of a sec
ond round of relief spend
ing Congress passed last
month.
The new funding fol
lows about $457 million
Georgia K-12 schools were
allocated last year in the
initial wave of COVID-19
federal relief through the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief
and Economic Security
(CARES) Act.
Local districts will re
ceive relief funding based
on what proportion of low-
income students attend
their schools, ranging from
more than $139 million for
DeKalb County schools
to nearly $367,000 for
Glascock County schools.
The state Board ofEdu-
cation approved distribut
ing the COVID-19 aid at a
meeting Thursday morn
ing, shortly before Gov.
Brian Kemp outlined his
latest budget priorities for
the General Assembly in
the 2021 legislative session.
Kemp has called for
restoring school budgets in
the remainder of the current
school year after districts
had to cut $950 million due
to economic pains from the
COVID-19 pandemic, add
ing back $647 million this
school year and $573 mil
lion next school year to ful
ly fund enrollment growth
and help prop up schools
where enrollment dropped.
In his annual “State of
the State” speech on Thurs
day, Kemp announced the
state will give teachers and
other school employees a
one-time $1,000 pay sup
plement as they continue
struggling with impacts
from the virus.
“In a year when other
states may face no other
option but to slash edu
cation dollars, furlough
teachers and cut back on
essential student programs,
Georgia is restoring fund
ing to schools, backing our
teachers and launching new
initiatives to keep kids en
rolled,” Kemp said.
Public schools in Geor
gia will not be required to
share federal funds with pri
vate schools in the new re
lief package like they did in
the initial CARES aid after
a federal judge halted that
distribution plan over the
summer.
State School Super
intendent Richard Woods
said his office will look at
whether those funding al
locations could be changed
to reflect school population
sizes instead of just low-in-
come student percentages
after some board members
voiced concerns about fair
distribution.
Woods added “a good
portion” of the new COV-
ID -funding would go to
ward helping restore budget
cuts made last year.
Many local schools are
still grappling with how
to hold classes amid the
pandemic. Several districts
are remaining online-only
for students, including
the large DeKalb County
School District. Other dis
tricts have instituted limits
on classes sizes or allowed
students to opt in for in-
person classes.
The state received more
than $80 million in federal
aid last summer to bolster
internet connections for
virtual learning, mental
health services, support for
independent colleges, on
line classes for technical col
leges, a construction-train
ing program and funds for
early child-care assistance.
Your
Mind
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Got a complaint? Got a
compliment? Call Your
Mind On Line at 537-6397
and let us know what's
on your mind. Quotes are
printed exactly as they are
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please.
inaugurated as our
next president at
gunpoint. I saw the
pictures on the news
of the armed na
tional guardsmen ev
erywhere at the cap
ital. Something is
wrong with democ
racy when you have
to inaugurate the
supposedly demo
cratically chosen by
the people new pres
ident at gunpoint."
steal.
“I feel bad for the
rioters when they find
out they are going to
go to federal prison
for life. Trump told
them because he
couldn't face the
fact that he lost.
What a coward."
•k
ask a j,
M®o Magnolia
Letters have been edited for length and clarity.
We know that older parents usually
would like to be involved in their adult
children’s lives, but they aren’t kept in
the loop about what their children and
grandchildren are doing, but they don’t
want to be intrusive. It’s like they are no
longer counted as family members.
Dear Ms. Magnolia,
/ read the letter about parents being
embarrassed when other people find out
they don’t know much about their own
children. The same applies to adult chil
dren knowing their older parents.
Iam a local visiting nurse, and when
an older patient becomes ill, we call in
the adult children listed as emergency
contacts. They are very often embar
rassed when we ask them what medica
tions their parent takes, what operations
the parent has had, what friends should
be contacted if the parent is missing.
They often have no idea. / want to say,
“What kind of child are you anyway? ”
Children of older parents should
telephone on a daily or weekly basis,
discussing their own work, the grand
children’s activities and friends. And
they should ask about their parents’
lives and needs and write down infor
mation (it may be needed sooner than
they think). Older people are usually
glad to know their children are inter
ested in them.
Nurse
Dear Nurse,
I really appreciate hearing about
the situations caring workers like you
are confronting today. Your sugges
tions can help others. Thank you.
If you have a question for Ms. Magnolia, please mail it to P.O. Box 669, Vidalia, GA
30475, or e-mail to msmagnoliaadvance@yahoo.com.
“If Vidalia High
School is going to
limit the number of
spectators in a gym
and not allow booster
passes to come in,
there should be a
special link on their
page where people
who have booster
passes can watch
games for free, since
they have already
paid for their pass, or
there's no need to
buy a pass."
“How many new
police officers has Vi
dalia gotten since we
got a new mayor?
We need to be tough
on crime before it kills
us all."
“I hope you folks
that put the demo
crats in office are
happy now. I blame
the democrats and
the news media for
the pandemic get
ting out of control.
When the virus
started to spread,
this country's law
makers were con
sumed with im
peaching our presi
dent. It was the only
thing that was on the
news. I don't agree
with Trump's mouth,
but I think our leaders
should concentrate
on the issues at hand-
stimulus package
and helping those
who have been af
fected by this pan
demic."
“I wonder how far
down the state the
corruption goes. Ap
parently, a long
way."
“Joe Biden will be
“I am absolutely
furious with these
protesters who have
nothing better to do
than destroy our
capitol and our mon
uments. Nothing was
said about people in
other cities who
burned and looted
and destroyed other
businesses just be
cause they thought
they had the right to
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