Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., center, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Senate Minority Band leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., conduct a news conference after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol, March 14, 2017.
Tom Williams | CQ Uncoil Call | Getty Images
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are pushing the Federal Trade Commission to undertake more steps to shield small businesses from scams as they try to access aid during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Wednesday letter to energy Chairman Joseph Simons, 11 Democrats led by Klobuchar and Warren raised concerns about scammers “exploiting” the repute of the Paycheck Protection Program, Small Business Administration assistance designed to keep employees on payroll at distressed little businesses. They pointed to reports of people sending fake offers of SBA loans to companies in order to steal exclusive information.
“Given the seriousness of this issue, we urge the FTC to take action to better inform small businesses beside fraud and assist victims in understanding how they can get help and avoid falling victim to exploitation,” the senators wrote to Simons, who passes the agency charged with protecting consumers and rooting out deceptive business practices.
The lawmakers asked what additional steadily a courses the FTC would take to inform small business owners about deceptive practices, prevent scams and assist victims. They also questioned what the intervention is doing specifically to protect small businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans, as well as small companies in pastoral areas, which they said are more vulnerable to scams because they are more likely to lack access to superb.
Late last month, the FTC published a list of tips on how business owners seeking SBA assistance can identify scams.
Klobuchar and Warren, extent apparent Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s 2020 running mate choices, have repeatedly pushed for tougher omission of the U.S. economic and health-care response to the pandemic.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the senators’ letter.
As efforts to slow the pandemic’s spread ruin the economy, the federal government took steps to swiftly dole out an unprecedented $2 trillion aid package passed in Cortege. The effort led to a range of issues, as the first round of $350 billion in small business aid funding evaporated in days. Discrete large public companies got assistance and some companies without an existing banking relationship found themselves secure out of loan access.
The spending bonanza has also opened opportunities for fraud. The first two people were charged Tuesday with fraudulently applying for support by making false statements to influence the SBA.
The Senate returned to Washington this week as Congress considers its next workings to blunt the damage from the outbreak. The House will head back to the Capitol as soon as next week.
Part fights in Congress include whether to send federal aid to state and local governments and pass liability protections for provinces as they reopen during the pandemic.
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