The American Rescue Plan will “devote $1 trillion toward building a bridge to economic recovery for working families, including those who work for small businesses; and provide critical support to communities that are struggling in the wake of the pandemic.”
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he had appointed Tara Lynn Gray, 57, of Fresno, as Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA).
Afloat COVID-19 vaccine reports and President Biden’s ambitious $1.9 trillion stimulus package; Congressmember Karen Bass organized a telephone town hall 24 hours after The House voted 220-211 to pass the new relief bill.
While it may be challenging to predict what exactly our path to economic recovery will look like, Black small businesses will play a significant role.
PPP Loans Awarded to 10,750 CA-43 Businesses in Gardena, Harbor City, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Los Angeles, Playa Vista, and Torrance Areas
The nationwide protests against the heinous killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman, is reminiscent of the 1960s era of turmoil and voices that fervently called for social and economic justice. Today’s turbulent times seem that history is repeating itself.
In addition to George Floyd, recent tragedies took the lives of a Black Louisville EMT in the middle of the night while she was asleep in her own bed. In another fatal incident, a young Black Georgia man jogging in daylight was shot dead. None of these three unarmed people deserved to die violently.
In the interim emergency relief package that was recently signed into law and replenished the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with $310 billion, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, led the fight to target $60 billion of those funds towards small, minority, and women-owned businesses. The bill, which is known as the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 266), also provides $50 billion for Small Business Administration disaster funding, translating into more than $350 billion in small business loans and $10 billion in emergency disaster grants.
Upholding her promise, Congresswoman Maxine Waters held another telephone town hall meeting with Los Angeles residents to detail more facts regarding COVID-19. The phone call was held Thursday, April 2, 2020, with nearly 15K listeners on the line.