SBA runs out of money for paycheck-protection program

The Small Business Administration has maxed out its emergency payroll- protection program, leaving many applications in limbo while Congress works to add more funding.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and SBA administrator Jovita Carranza said Thursday morning the SBA had issued more than 14 years' worth of loans in just 14 days.

By law, no more loans can be approved until more money is made available.

Both Mnuchin and Carranza said the program is already saving millions of jobs.

Senate Democrats have long argued for more oversight in the CARES Act, which created the payroll-protection program. Last week, they prevented a unanimous consent vote that would have added $250 billion into the SBA.

In a statement on Thursday, Sen.Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, argued that it's time to stop the “partisan bickering” and find a bipartisan way to approve more funding for the SBA.

His Republican counterpart in West Virginia, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, argued that the situation could have been avoided.

Meanwhile, a statement from the Ohio House of Representatives, said the state is developing its own task force to help the economy recover.

The lawmakers want to hear from residents of southeastern Ohio.

Using the email address Ohio2020@ohiohouse.gov, business owners can tell their story. State representatives ask that business owners include the name of the business, where it is, a brief description of the business, how long it’s been open and contact information for the owners.

In the meantime, the Marietta Chamber of Commerce is also doing what it can to help small businesses.

“We’re here right now promoting our members as much as we can, getting the information out that we can to them and being that information source," said Carrie Ankrom, the chamber's president and CEO. "Once they reopen, we’re going to be there for them as well. "

WTAP contacted the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley for this story but received no response.