LANSING, Mich. — We continue to learn more about the businesses that received loans through the paycheck protection program. These are loans that businesses may not have to pay back. Alicia Nieves shows us why watchdog groups who fought for this transparency are now pushing for accountability.
A list of businesses that received forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government, has just been released. Bringing to light, that millionaires, billionaires, and even a celebrity received federal aid intended to help struggling small businesses.
“From the very outset the public, watchdogs, and elected officials had a very good reason to want data to see where this money was going because as we just learned we had good reason to be questioning ‘is this program going to do what it was intended to do?’”
R.J. Cross is with the watchdog organization, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, known as PIRG, which pushed for the data release and now is pushing for accountability.
“A big improvement on the program would be true audits on all of the loan amounts, that say if we find that you could’ve probably gotten money somewhere else we are going to take those taxpayers dollars back.”
Currently only loans over two million dollars will be audited, but most of the loans taken out including some by millionaires and billionaires. Were just below that threshold. “So we don’t have any proof to say that they picked that amount strategically but it certainly raises questions.”
Watchdog groups say the only way to answer those questions, for the American people, is continued transparency and expanded audits. “fraud and corruption are a real concern anytime the government is spending and giving money to companies and especially the pace in which it is happening right now, and the amount of secrecy the administration has insisted there should be around some of these funds even when we have been promised true transparency means that there is reason to keep a very close eye on what is happening next.
The biggest bailout in U.S. history deserves the most transparency in U.S. history.”
Right now it is just 'wait and see' on whether the small business administration and the treasury department will make a move to audit more of the loans. If either does it could be years before we see the outcome of audits.
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