The federal Payment Protection Program established in 2020 to help small businesses and protect the jobs of their workers eventually was allowed to include unions, and millions in forgivable loans ended up with them and other organizations.
Eligibility and timing are in question for many, according to a new report from the Freedom Foundation. Nationally, labor organizations received $36.7 million in PPP funds, and $1.2 million ended up in the hands of Pennsylvania unions.
"Disconcertingly, the apparently inappropriate PPP loans may have been granted due to fraudulent loan applications or other questionable conduct by applicants or the private lenders operating under the SBA's delegated authority," wrote Maxford Nelsen, report author and director of labor policy at the Freedom Foundation.
PPP eligibility expanded from small businesses and nonprofits in March 2020 to include labor unions and building corporations by March 2021. But many unions applied for funding before they could legitimately receive the largesse.
