The SBA Paycheck Protection Program system has been rife with errors and holds and the guidance from SBA/Treasury has had gaps that multiple lenders report they could not resolve because SBA did not get back to them and did not address these gaps in the guidance.. 

When the decision was made to permit restaurants to apply for both the Shuttered Venue Grant for restaurants and the PPP, it has been reported that an unexpected surge of restaurants applying for PPP funds quickly and unexpectedly caused the funds to begin to drain weeks before the deadline. While certainly the hard-hit restaurant and hospitality industries needed the help, this has left behind thousands small disadvantaged businesses including women- and minority-owned. small businesses due to the funds running out prematurely.

These businesses have been unfairly sidelined through to SBA's unresponsiveness in fixing certain gaps in the guidance and the faulty application processing system. This was also the fault of Congress and The White House in failing to foresee that the PPP would need additional funds to allow for the influx of restaurants and hospitality industry businesses when it opened the door to both the Shuttered Venue Grant and PPP.

The White House and Congress should take immediate measures to replace those funds or to otherwise provide additional PPP funds for those applying with an approved lender on or before May 4, 2021 along with extending the PPP deadline until June 30, 2021.