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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana House Republicans want to dedicate $30 million to help struggling small businesses and $150 million for students dealing with learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two grant programs were initially announced last week as part of the House GOP legislative agenda, but the exact funding amounts were not shared at that time.
House Speaker Todd Huston said on Thursday that his caucus is suggesting $30 million be allocated to continue funding the small business grant program that Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration established in June with Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding.
The grant program outlined in House Bill 1004 would provide grants of $10,000 per month with a maximum award amount of $50,000. The funding could reimburse businesses for up to 80% of non-payroll expenses and 100% of payroll expenses incurred between March 1, 2020, and April 1, 2021.
To be eligible, a business must have fewer than 100 employees, gross revenue of less than $10 million in 2019 and be able to prove a monthly gross revenue loss of at least 30%.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. would continue to administer the grant program.
The bill is authored by Rep. Shane Lindauer, R-Jasper.
House Bill 1008, authored by Republican Martin Carbaugh, would allocate $150 million for a student learning recovery grant program. The program is designed to help students who have fallen behind in grade level academic achievement, have scored below academic standards or are at risk of falling behind.
The Department of Education, along with the State Board of Education, would be responsible for determining the exact criteria for the grants and administering the program.
The program would be in place until June 2023.
If the bills passed and were signed by the governor, the funding would be available immediately because the appropriation would be out of the 2021 budget.
Holcomb announced plans earlier this week to use $702 million in one-time dollars this year to pay down a teacher pension obligation and pay off some existing bond debt. But that proposal did not include the $180 million the House has proposed to spend on the education and business grants.
Democrats have criticized Holcomb’s plan for not providing any direct relief to Hoosiers struggling from the pandemic.
Huston said Holcomb’s suggestion to pay off debt is “a smart, prudent decision,” but he plans to work with the governor to find the right balance on how to spend the money.
“We each have priorities and we each are thinking about what are the investments we can make to propel Indiana forward as we come out of this pandemic,” Huston said.
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The problem with this and the federal PPP II funding is that the threshold of 30% and 25%, respectively, is an onerous task. Many small businesses have posted losses for 2020 but not to this level. There is a economic cascade effect that occurs in these institutions. They may be doing everything possible to break even and the continual affect of the pandemic will cause these institutions future harm. The funding should be across the board to provide for the overall health of the small businesses in the US.