Senators' Letter to SBA and Treasury on Planned Parenthood PPP Eligibility — May 22, 2020

Summary

A letter dated May 22, 2020 from United States Senators, beginning with Charles E. Schumer, Benjamin L. Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen and Patty Murray, to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. The letter addresses the eligibility of Planned Parenthood health centers for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the CARES Act. The senators state that independent Planned Parenthood 501(c)(3) organizations with less than 500 employees that comply with the affiliation rule are eligible. Citing media reports that began on May 19, they express concern that the SBA is singling out these organizations among over 4.3 million loans. The letter asks the SBA to stop what it calls ideologically-driven action through unequal application of the affiliation rule.

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                                     WASHINGTON, DC 20510

                                         May 22, 2020

The Honorable Jovita Carranza                          The Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin
Administrator                                          Secretary
U.S. Small Business Administration                     U.S. Department of the Treasury
403 3rd St SW                                          1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20416                                   Washington, DC 20220


Dear Administrator Carranza and Secretary Mnuchin:

We write to address confusion that has arisen in recent reporting regarding the eligibility of
Planned Parenthood health centers for participation in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
and express our deep concern that the Small Business Administration (SBA) appears to be
engaged in targeted, ideologically-based attacks against critical safety-net health care
providers.

As established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the
PPP was created specifically to ensure all 501(c)(3) nonprofits who meet the qualifications
under the terms and conditions of the law would be eligible to receive these loans. Any terms
or conditions applied, including the affiliation rule, were not aimed at targeting or excluding
any specific entity or category of entities.

The PPP was created to respond directly to the ongoing severe consequences of the COVID-
19 pandemic by providing “a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on
the payroll.” The intent of the program is to provide cash flow assistance through 100 percent
federally guaranteed loans to qualifying employers who maintain their payroll during this
emergency. The law was drafted to provide eligibility for both for-profit and nonprofit
organizations, as both types of organizations face severe economic challenges at this moment.
The decision to fund PPP was based on a mutual and bipartisan consensus that it was
important for this program to assist the broad universe of nonprofit organizations in this
country, many of whom provide food assistance, health care services, child care, charitable
services, and other essential functions that constitute a critical component of our social safety
net. As such, independent Planned Parenthood 501(c)(3) organizations that have less than 500
employees and are compliant with the affiliation rule are eligible for PPP under the CARES
Act.

On May 19, conservative media outlets began to report that the SBA is “reaching out to each
involved Planned Parenthood affiliate” which has received PPP funding in an effort to
pressure them into returning funds. The reporting, combined with the previous comments
from a “senior Administration official” and this administration’s longstanding campaign
against reproductive health generally and Planned Parenthood specifically, strongly suggests
that Planned Parenthood is being arbitrarily singled out amongst over 4.3 million loans that
have been issued under this program.


                                                1
It is critical that the SBA implement the PPP as Congress directed, without ideological efforts
to treat certain nonprofit organizations differently from others. The SBA must administer the
PPP program in a manner that is uniform and that does not target any entity or subset of
entities for exclusion, especially if doing so is based on a political ideology, the services
provided by that entity, or any other factor unrelated to the criteria established by law in the
CARES Act.

In light of these developments, we ask that the SBA stop ideologically-driven action against
Planned Parenthood organizations through the unequal application of the affiliation rule in
order to score political points for this administration by attacking nonprofit health care
providers.

                                      Sincerely,



__________________________                           ____________________________
Charles E. Schumer                                   Benjamin L. Cardin
United States Senator                                United States Senator



__________________________                           ____________________________
Jeanne Shaheen                                       Patty Murray
United States Senator                                United States Senator



__________________________                           ____________________________
Michael F. Bennet                                    Ron Wyden
United States Senator                                United States Senator



__________________________                           ____________________________
Sheldon Whitehouse                                   Bernard Sanders
United States Senator                                United States Senator



__________________________                           ____________________________
Elizabeth Warren                                     Patrick Leahy
United States Senator                                United States Senator
 /s/ Chris Van Hollen
__________________________   ____________________________
Chris Van Hollen             Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Tammy Duckworth              Edward J. Markey
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Cory A. Booker               Tammy Baldwin
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Margaret Wood Hassan         Sherrod Brown
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Kirsten Gillibrand           Tim Kaine
United States Senator        United States Senator


/s/ Brian Schatz
__________________________   ____________________________
Brian Schatz                 Tina Smith
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Jeffrey A. Merkley           Christopher S. Murphy
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Mazie K. Hirono              Maria Cantwell
United States Senator        United States Senator
__________________________   ____________________________
Christopher A. Coons         Jacky Rosen
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Catherine Cortez Masto       Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Debbie Stabenow              Kamala D. Harris
United States Senator        United States Senator


/s/ Martin Heinrich
__________________________   ____________________________
Martin Heinrich              Tom Udall
United States Senator        United States Senator


                             /s/ Mark R. Warner
__________________________   ____________________________
Robert Menendez              Mark R. Warner
United States Senator        United States Senator



__________________________   ____________________________
Richard J. Durbin            Jon Tester
United States Senator        United States Senator


/s/ Robert P. Casey, Jr.     /s/ Dianne Feinstein
__________________________   ____________________________
Robert P. Casey, Jr.         Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator        United States Senator


/s/ Jack Reed
__________________________
Jack Reed
United States Senator


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