Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ben Cardin recently introduced legislation to create what’s being called the Hard-Hit Small Business Relief Fund (S.4471). For small businesses demonstrating substantial losses in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, this bill would establish a $6 billion fund to make grants to eligible small businesses.
The money would come from the funds remaining in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s COVID relief programs, providing authority to the SBA to define eligibility, but expanding it specifically for sole proprietorships, independent contractors, self-employed individuals and tribally owned small businesses.
With a busy session scheduled for Congress once it returns from its mid-summer break, particularly ahead of its annual August recess, it’s unclear when this bill will receive consideration in committee or on the Senate and House floors, according to the National Small Business Association.
