Young
Braun
A total of 25 Republican U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Isabel Guzman, the head of the Small Business Administration, expressing their concern that Planned Parenthood has received $83 million through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
Senators say this such allocation of funds is illegal according to the rules of PPP. When PPP was established, the rules prohibited organizations with more than 500 employees, including affiliates, from receiving the money set aside for small shops. According to the senators, Planned Parenthood has 16,000 employees and assets of nearly $2 billion.
Indiana Senators Mike Braun Todd Young signed on to the letter, as did Mitch McConnell, John Barrasso, Cynthia Lummis, Steve Daines, Joni Ernst, Jerry Moran, Tom Cotton, John Boozman, Roger Marshall, John Hoeven, John Thune, Michael Rounds, Tim Scott, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, Jim Risch, Ben Sasse, Roger Wicker, John Kennedy, Rick Scott, Marsha Blackburn, Rob Portman, and Marco Rubio.
Read the full letter below.
* * *
Dear Administrator Guzman,
We write to request an investigation concerning how affiliates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (“Planned Parenthood”), a national organization with central control over its affiliates which has nearly $2 billion in assets, and over 16,000 employees nationwide, are continually able to obtain loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) when Small Business Administration (SBA) rules and guidance has made it clear that they are ineligible for such funds.
Since the original authorization of the PPP, 38 Planned Parenthood affiliates have received over $83 million in taxpayer funds meant for small business relief. According to the longstanding SBA affiliation rules which state that entities are affiliated “when one controls or has the power to control the other, or a third party or parties controls or has the power to control both,” Planned Parenthood, which operates in governance and practice as an affiliated group, is ineligible for these loans.
Following press reports in 2020 that Planned Parenthood affiliates had still applied for and received PPP funds contrary to the letter of the law, SBA sent letters to the 38 affiliates who had received funding, instructing those groups to return the funding. According to the most recently available data, seven affiliates did so, but the remaining 31 affiliates kept the received funding despite receiving notice that they had received such funds illegally. Of those 31, two affiliates actually applied and received a second draw from the program for a combined $3.6 million when additional funding was appropriated.
It is unconscionable that SBA continues to approve PPP loans made to organizations which are clearly ineligible for funding. This is unacceptable, not only because SBA, like other agencies, must be a faithful and responsible steward of taxpayer dollars but also because continuing to make funds available for Planned Parenthood affiliates is in direct violation of the law.
We urge that the SBA promptly open an investigation into how these loans were made in clear violation of the applicable affiliation rules and if Planned Parenthood, relevant lenders, or staff at the SBA knowingly violated the law, and that appropriate legal action be taken if so.
On March 25, 2021, U.S. Congress took action to extend the PPP until June 30, 2021. We are concerned that this extension will give remaining Planned Parenthood affiliates time to illegally obtain funds from the program as the SBA has yet to take action on this issue.
We will continue to monitor the situation and vigilantly demand an investigation. Moving forward, the SBA must ensure that the agency upholds both the letter of the law and the intent of Congress in implementing this critical program to protect America’s small businesses.