U.S. Congresswoman Cindy Axne

President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Friday cosponsored by the Congresswoman for Iowa’s Third District Cindy Axne (D) that will improve Iowa small business owners’ ability to utilize COVID-19 relief programs.

The bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act makes changes to the program, which will provide additional leeway for businesses trying to stay afloat. It includes extending the term of the loan to five years; adjusting restrictions limiting non-payroll expenses to 25% of loan proceeds, which would allow businesses to cover higher relative costs for rent, mortgage, or utilities; and ensuring full access to payroll tax deferment for businesses that take PPP loans. Representative Axne shares more about the bill, “The biggest piece of this is to give those businesses 24 weeks instead of eight weeks to spend the money and still get that loan forgiven. We need to recognize that this crisis is lasting way longer than any one of us would have liked, and we’re not going to be back to normal for some time, still. So what this will do is allow businesses to make full use of the loan forgiveness as the PPP was intended, rather than being stuck with more debt that they didn’t need that could really strap them from reopening their businesses as a whole.”

The legislation was advanced by over 400 legislators in the U.S. House and was passed unanimously in the Senate. It was also endorsed by organizations including the National Restaurant Association, National Small Business Association, and the National Federation of International Business.