Takeaways: Paycheck Protection loans and the Catholic Church
NEW YORK (AP) — When the coronavirus pandemic caused a broad economic downturn and Depression-era unemployment rates, Washington responded with trillions of dollars in federal relief.
One centerpiece was the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program. Congress created the program to help smaller businesses and nonprofit groups -- generally those with fewer than 500 employees -- keep their workers on the payroll.
An Associated Press analysis has found that a special exemption to the 500-employee cap set the stage for approval of at least $1.4 billion for groups affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, making it one of the program’s big winners. Many of those millions are going to pay salaries and other expenses in dioceses that recently paid huge financial settlements to victims of clergy sexual abuse.
Key takeaways from The AP’s analysis:
SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR RELIGION
The Small Business Administration, which manages the Paycheck Protection Program, typically makes or oversees loans backed by taxpayer money to for-profit companies with fewer than 500 employees. When the pandemic hit, Congress gave nonprofit groups access as well.
Lobbied by religious leaders, the Trump administration went one step further by granting all faith groups a special waiver to the 500-employee cap. For the Catholic Church, that meant instead of all churches, schools, and other organizations in a diocese grouping their employees into a single total -- making many ineligible due to their size -- each could apply as an independent, “small” entity.
As a result, AP found, at least 3,500 Catholic organizations qualified for loans that the government will forgive if recipients spend the money on payroll, rent, and utilities. Loans to Catholic entities that AP identified were worth at...
