Today, the President signed into law H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, an interim national COVID-19 relief package to replenish funding for the popular small business loan programs and provide additional funding to support healthcare.

Below is a summary of the key provisions:

H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act

Small Business Act Programs:

Appropriates another $310 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program and another $10 billion for the program’s administrative costs.

·Creates a $60 billion set-aside for Insured Depository Institutions, Credit Unions, and Community Financial Institutions.

Appropriates an additional $50 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and $10 billion for EIDL grants.

·Allows agricultural enterprises, as defined by section 18(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 647(b)), with not more than 500 employees to receive EIDL grants and loans.

Updated Interim Rule on PPP Eligibility

On April 24, 2020, after weeks of inter-tribal advocacy, the Small Business Administration, in consultation with the United States Treasury Department, updated its Interim Rule to provide that businesses that receive revenue from gaming are eligible for the PPP as follows:

Part III.2.b. of the Third PPP Interim Final Rule (85 FR 21747, 21751) is revised to read as follows:

Are businesses that receive revenue from legal gaming eligible for a PPP Loan?

A business that is otherwise eligible for a PPP Loan is not rendered ineligible due to its receipt of legal gaming revenues, and 13 CFR 120.110(g) is inapplicable to PPP loans. Businesses that received illegal gaming revenue remain categorically ineligible. On further consideration, the Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, believes this approach is more consistent with the policy aim of making PPP loans available to a broad segment of U.S. businesses.

Hospitals:

Provides $75 billion to reimburse hospitals and healthcare providers for COVID-19 related expenses and lost revenue. NCAI expects a portion of this funding to be transferred to IHS directly-operated programs and tribal health programs, as was the case with funding provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136).

Testing:

Provides $750 million to tribal nations, tribal organizations, and urban Indian health organizations, in coordination with the Indian Health Service, from the $11 billion allocated to states, local governments, territories, and tribal nations to develop, purchase, administer, process, and analyze COVID-19 tests, scale up laboratory capacity, and trace the spread of the disease.

While these much-needed resources are welcome, Indian Country continues to face barriers in accessing funding because of delayed agency distributions.

NCAI will continue to urge the Administration to swiftly distribute funding to tribal nations and remove regulatory barriers that limit tribal access to COVID-19 relief dollars. NCAI also will continue to work with Congress to ensure future COVID-19 legislation provides tribal nations the resources they need to protect and support their communities during this pandemic.

For a comprehensive look at Indian Country’s priorities, resources, and information regarding COVID-19, please click here.

If you have questions about the legislation’s specific provisions, please contact the appropriate policy area lead below:

Economic Development: Fatima Abbas, Director of Policy and Legislative Counsel, fabbas@ncai.org

Healthcare: Nicholas Courtney, Policy Analyst, ncourtney@ncai.org