Dean Phillips: “I thank Representative Velazquez; Ranking Member Chabot; my colleague, Mr. Roy from Texas, who has spent a lot of time…”

“I thank Representative Velazquez; Ranking Member Chabot; my colleague, Mr. Roy from Texas, who has spent a lot of time in the political foxhole with me from the very beginning of this initiative; and all who have helped get the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act to the floor. But I want to spend my time today letting my constituents speak for themselves. For more than 43 years, Minnesotans have celebrated birthdays and Little League wins over burgers and cheese curds at Lions Tap, a family-owned restaurant in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, until COVID- 19 changed everything. My team spoke with Bert, owner of Lions Tap, and when we asked for feedback about his experience with the Payroll Protection Program, he said this: ``We definitely need the PPP. The problem is that because our business is a restaurant, we are not able to open it up fully where we could hire our entire staff back under the conditions of the loan. It is imperative that we are allowed forgiveness for expenses beyond the original 8-week period. We also need to loosen up the restrictions of nonpayroll expenses beyond the 25 percent. The complexities of balancing staying open or closing will be determined by what the government will be able to change on the PPP in this bill.'' Bert is not alone. On a Zoom call last month, a barber who rents a chair in a Brooklyn Park barber salon told me exactly the same thing.…”