Sen. Tom Killion (R-Chester/Delaware Counties) announced plans to introduce legislation establishing a zero-interest loan program for small businesses that have been affected by community mitigation efforts against the national COVID-19 outbreak.
“As we see the current public health emergency unfold with COVID-19, we must act to provide resources for all of the residents of the Commonwealth including our employers,” Killion wrote in a memo to fellow senators, several of whom have signed on as co-sponsors.
The proposed legislation would redirect all game table revenue, which is currently sent to the General Fund, to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for the creation of the economic injury loan program. If enacted, the legislation is expected to generate $125 million in relief of Pennsylvania small businesses.
“COVID-19 is an unprecedented public health emergency,” said Killion, the chairman of the Senate’s Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee. “Our first priority is to protect the health and welfare of Pennsylvanians … However, the economic ramifications of this emergency are already being felt, and as policymakers, we must do all in our power to limit those negative effects and provide relief to Pennsylvania’s small business owners.”