House Members Express Frustration About SBA’s EIDL Program

By Maya Shavit

MSGI Intern

 

Last week the House Small Business Committee heard from long-anticipated witness, James Rivera from the Small Business Association (SBA) Office of Disaster Assistance, testifying before Congress about the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL). The EIDL program is originally designed to provide economic relief to businesses experiencing difficult times. But in response to the hit many have felt from the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first-time small businesses nationally can apply for the relief. While in theory this seems like a surefire way to receive aid in this unprecedented time, business owners have faced tremendous frustration with the EIDL’s process and the little assistance they have received from the SBA. Throughout the hearing, the Committee Members highlighted the lack of transparency between the SBA and small business owners.

Every Member on the Committee was perplexed by SBA’s lack of communication. Chair Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Ranking Member Steve Chabot (R-OH) opened the hearing mentioning that small business owners were not updated on the progress of their loans. The EIDL portal used in the loan process confuses many business owners and its supposed “help centers” provide little to no support. Mr. Rivera contributed this flaw to the “angst to get it out” as the pandemic ramped up to injure businesses nationally and the SBA’s forced three stops through March and April. Of particular inconvenience was the sudden change by SBA to exclusively allow agricultural businesses to apply for the loans. Ranking Member Chabot later continued to address this point as he noted that the SBA should have run the decision by Congress, which Mr. Rivera agreed to. If Congress is left in the dark, the general public is even further removed and strained by a lack of information. Representative Angie Craig (D-MN) brought up a personal experience with the “lack of accountability” that her constituents experienced. After a constituent in her district was left with no response for weeks from the SBA about their loan, Representative Craig used the congressional “24hour” email line, where she also never received a response. If this was the response that she as a congressperson received, she could only sympathize with the upset of a small business owner waiting for weeks or months in the processing que.

Another issue highlighted by Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) and Dwight Evans (D-PA) was that the program did not provide equal opportunity to minority-owned businesses. Congresswoman Chu indicated that while SBA has translated the EIDL program into 17 languages, this excludes many languages that the Asian American business owners with a lack of English proficiency can understand. Twenty-five million dollars was appropriated to the Agency specifically for program translation, yet no progress has been made. Additionally, Member Evans noted minority struggle as he asked Mr. Rivera to “rate the way African Americans have been given a chance,” to which Mr. Rivera could not answer his question. 

Concluding the hearing, Members of Congress asked Mr. Rivera how he thought the SBA was doing with EIDL. Representative Dan Bishop (R-NC) questioned why Mr. Rivera believed the 41-day average he noted to the Committee was more than adequate. He cited that while the “historically based” numbers are “much better” than they were in previous disasters, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is not similar to previous national disasters and economic crises that the population has faced. SBA staff members focused on approving EIDL applications are allotted 15 minutes, far less than the hours spent before the COVID-19 pandemic. While there have been beneficial changes, there is no denying that there were many hurdles at the start of the new process and there still are many issues that the SBA is not fully aware of. 

While no members argued that those numbers were more satisfactory, the frustration in the room was not alleviated as, on both sides of the aisle, people were not excited by the answers provided. Ultimately, Mr. Rivera expressed that while EIDL had some difficulty getting off the ground, the SBA is proud of its progress, but it strives to do much better. Chair Velázquez concluded the discussion by noting that the SBA must do better, “Especially when it comes to the communication between the SBA, Congress, and the constituents.” The SBA must listen to the lost business owners and work with Congress members to improve the EIDL program.