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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 ONLINE 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 called in and are not nec essarily factual, but rather, callers' opinions. Libelous, slanderous, personal at tacks, and unfounded ac cusatory or lengthy com ments will not be printed. Two calls per week per caller, and calls should not exceed 30 seconds, 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 1U10NTF0RT W6 GROUP LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONALS • MOWING •SHRUB TRIMMING • PINESTRAW FOR SALE (INSTALLATION AVAILABLE) ENJOY YOUR YARD THIS SUMMER PAIN FREE! LET THE PROS AT MONTFORT GROUP ELIMINATE THOSE STICKERS NOW SO YOU CAN BE BAREFOOT AND FANCY FREE THIS SPRING/SUMMER. 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