In the midst of a pandemic, small business aid is taking August off to refresh.

In March, the federal government included hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding for programs in the CARES Act to get money into the hands of small businesses quickly in the midst of a pandemic and economic downturn. Five months later, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) still has funds and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) needs a reup. And the programs aren’t accepting applications, as Congress is on an August recess and negotiations about a new COVID response bill are still ongoing.

In U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin’s view, the best way to help small businesses is to get the virus under control. But with vaccines still in the trial phase, the Maryland Democrat said a new round of aid is needed from Congress — and it should’ve been passed “before now.”

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE