Letter To The Editor: Paycheck Protection Saved Local Businesses

To the Editor:

Your article on the benefits of Paycheck Protection Program loans to local businesses [“PPP Loans Benefited Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manor Businesses,” July 21, 2021] demonstrates the benefits of a functional bipartisan government. While I have not directly benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program, I have happily patronized business who managed to stay afloat because of the loans, which could be converted into grants when used to keep employees on the payroll.

The umbrella for PPP loans, the CARES Act of 2020, was a bi-partisan effort that saw Republicans and Democrats successfully respond to the economic challenges of the COVID pandemic. President Biden, who has spent his career working across party lines, also appears to have attracted enough Republican support to pass a much-needed infrastructure bill proposed by the Democratic majority in Congress.

We are seeing the results of Biden’s approach – bringing the parties together in order to confront obstacles paralyzing our country. Given the tenacity of COVID, we need to feel confident that our President and representatives in Congress place the public interest above partisan political concerns. That confidence grows when we witness the government working for the people as it has with the Paycheck Protection Program.

Sara Campbell
Croton-on-Hudson