U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after the Senate passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act - bipartisan legislation he supported that provides the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) additional flexibility for the more than 85,000 Tennessee small businesses who have received forgivable loans through the program.

"As of May 30, the Small Business Administration had approved more than $8.8 billion in loans for 85,600 Tennessee businesses. Currently, businesses only have eight weeks to spend the money, which many business owners in Tennessee have said is not long enough to bridge the economic gap created by the COVID-19 outbreak," Alexander said. "Giving businesses 24 weeks to use the loans better reflects the real world challenges facing small businesses and should help Tennessee small businesses retain more workers."

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act provides greater flexibility for small businesses to use PPP loans. The bill triples the amount of time small businesses have to use the funds and extends the deadline for small businesses to apply for a PPP loan from June 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

Alexander supported the CARES Act, which created the Paycheck Protection Program. Alexander said the program provides sweeping relief to keep paychecks coming for workers.