Beast Mode for our small businesses

Small businesses are not only the backbone of our economy, they are our economy’s star running backs. They rack up the tough yards and score the touchdowns on Main Street in towns and cities across the country – creating over 60 percent of new jobs in the private sector.

Right now, unfortunately, they are getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage. Before the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed in our state, small businesses were already feeling the pandemic’s impacts. As the most trade dependent state in the nation, local companies – shellfish growers, manufacturers, and others – who depend on global customers quickly started feeling the pain as the virus spread across Asia and the world.

Now, as our communities have worked to slow the spread of the virus here at home, our Main Streets have ground to a halt. 

As the representative for our region and as someone who worked professionally in economic development for over a decade, I believe the federal government should do some blocking and call some plays for our small businesses. 

That’s why I worked to ensure that the CARES Act included funding for loan programs to help small businesses and their workers get through this crisis. These programs include Economic Injury Disaster Loans to keep small businesses going – with a portion of that loan being a grant that does not have to be repaid – and the Paycheck Protection Program to help employers keep their workers on payroll.

But these programs have had a rocky roll out, and clearly more funding is needed. And there’s no time to lose. Businesses are making decisions right now about whether to hunker down and try to weather this storm or just fold the tent. That’s why I wrote to the Administrator of the Small Business Administration expressing the need for them to do better in helping small business and the lenders that serve them navigate this crisis.  

I also introduced the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act to nearly triple the funding and extend the duration of the program because our businesses need certainty and some breathing room to help rebuild demand.

We also need to look for other ways to help small businesses. Now is the time to consider rolling back tariffs that are simply taxes on companies fighting to stay alive – particularly in trade-dependent states like ours. We should also look now – before the burden falls on employers and their workers – at helping small businesses avoid potential increases in health insurance premiums that could come from the high cost of claims associated with the pandemic.

Finally, we need to think about what it means if businesses cannot fully reopen in two months and conditions do not quickly improve. We can’t just think about the next play on the field – but know what our play call will be in multiple situations. That’s why I’m advocating for an assistance system based on automatic triggers that would kick in if economic conditions remain dire and provide additional help when it is needed. I’m also working on legislation for grant-based aid for small businesses – those we see on our Main Streets – to help them through. 

Across the field, we need energetic and decisive action. We need a game plan that includes more help for small businesses facing challenges now, one that also includes stabilizers that work quickly and automatically to get the help where it’s needed, when it’s needed. It’s time for a comprehensive strategy to help small businesses – think of it as Main Street Beast Mode – to empower them to score the points our economy will desperately need.  

Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, represents Washington's Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.