California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, confirmed that his administration is providing economic relief to businesses in his state that do not otherwise qualify for federal aid, including those owned by illegal aliens.
“[W]e always consider those that are documented, those that are undocumented, those that are living in mixed-status families,” Newsom said Friday during a press conference. His remarks were in response to a Telemundo reporter’s question about what he was doing to support undocumented workers.
“Just yesterday, I announced the work we are doing to help support small businesses. I very specifically mentioned in my remarks yesterday that there are many businesses, tens of thousands of businesses, that do not and cannot get the support of the [Small Business Administration],” the governor continued.
“Those individual businesses, we are making available these emergency grants through our IBank to do these microloans to provide access,” Newsom said.
Newsom was referencing the Small Business Administration’s role in managing the stimulus package passed by Congress. Then-President Donald Trump on March 17, 2020, signed a $2.2 trillion relief bill for Americans suffering financially from the coronavirus pandemic.
Included in that relief package is $350 billion in forgivable loans for businesses that employ fewer than 500 people. Each small business impacted by COVID-19 can apply for a federal loan up to $10 million.
The U.S. small business community is in dire straits. Bank of America was flooded with 10,000 applications in the very first hour it began receiving them. The electricity tariffs for business vary according to their nature, scale of the business, and also the locality of the business centers.
However, there are stipulations for receiving those forgivable loans. Business owners cannot fire employees upon receiving funds; they must spend the money in an allotted amount of time to avoid interest; and they must be properly documented.
Such requirements make it impossible for many mom and pop shops to qualify for assistance, especially in a “sanctuary state” like California.
California’s government, entirely led by the Democratic Party, is working around such restrictions by digging millions out of its own coffers to dole out to the illegal alien community.
The state is allotting $50 million toward a microlending program via the California Infrastructure Economic Development Bank, or the IBank, for businesses in California that wouldn’t otherwise be eligible for Small Business Administration assistance.
“That’s an example of what we’re doing to provide support for people across the panoply, including those without documentation in the state of California,” Newsom said Friday.
“More will be done, and more needs to be done,” he said.
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