The Emergency Grant Program for Small Businesses Is Officially Out of Money

Though the COVID-19 crisis has impacted the U.S. economy on a whole, small businesses -- those without the financial resources to withstand closures and drastic declines in revenue -- have perhaps been hurt the worst. It's estimated that over 100,000 small businesses have closed permanently in the course of the pandemic and the subsequent recession it's spurred, and at a time when the outbreak only seems to be getting worse, a key source of relief is no longer on the table.

On Saturday, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan's (EIDL's) advance program ran out of money after having reached the $20 billion funding limit assigned to it. Under that program, small businesses, as well as independent contractors, were eligible to apply for an emergency loan and receive up to $1,000 per employee as an immediate advance on that loan. That advance, however, was really a grant that didn't need to be repaid at all. In fact, small businesses and self-employed workers had the option to apply for an emergency loan, receive their grant as an advance, and then reject the loan itself.

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Source Fool.com