Watchdog Praises Federal Loan Disclosures, Urges Greater Transparency

For Immediate Release
July 6, 2020
Contact: Grace Morgan
(202-855-4380)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) praised the Trump administration for disclosing the names of the largest recipients of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding. On July 6 (today), the Treasury Department released the names of PPP beneficiaries who were approved for at least $150,000 in forgivable loans. Reuters reports that a significant amount of PPP-related information is still being withheld from taxpayers, since the released data “accounts for roughly 73% of the dollars granted, but only 14% of the 4.9 million loans, according to a summary of data the agencies released initially on Monday.” In Congress, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) has proposed eliminating the $150,000 reporting threshold and requiring the disclosure of all PPP loan recipients to the public. TPA sent a letter to Congress on June 30 endorsing Porter’s legislation.

TPA President David Williams urged greater transparency, noting, “requiring full PPP transparency would allow taxpayers and lawmakers to carefully scrutinize how these dollars are being allocated. Americans deserve answers on how their hard-earned dollars are being spent. Since PPP was authorized under the CARES Act in March, businesses have used forgivable loans as a lifeline against economic uncertainty. But, a significant number of loans went to businesses that failed to fit the definition of a small, struggling business. The identifying of those companies can only happen if taxpayers have complete and reliable information about PPP loan disbursements.”

Williams continued: “Without full and complete PPP transparency, large publicly-traded companies will continue to use taxpayer dollars under the veil of secrecy. According to an analysis by FactSquared, more than 400 publicly traded companies were permitted to access approximately $1.4 billion in loans under PPP. Due to public outcry and clarifications by the Small Business Administration, many of these well-heeled corporations have apologized and repaid the Treasury. However, FactSquared notes that less than a third of the money has been repaid to taxpayers. More money can and should be repaid, but that will only happen if taxpayers have all the facts about who benefited from PPP and by how much.”

Williams concluded: “The Treasury and Trump administration deserve praise for releasing the names of some of the largest PPP recipients. Far more needs to be done to ensure that taxpayers know how their hard-earned dollars are being spent. Full disclosure, as proposed by Rep. Porter, would be a welcome step toward transparency and good government.”

#