Sens Lee, Romney, concerned over PPP payments to Planned Parenthood
May 21, 2020, 5:37 PM
FILE: (Photo credit: Getty Images)
(Photo credit: Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Senators Mitt Romney and Mike Lee want the Justice Department to investigate Planned Parenthood after reports that nearly 40 affiliates across the United States received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Sens. Romney and Lee added their names to dozens of other Republican lawmakers asking Attorney General William Barr how the organization received the funds.
In the letter, lawmakers said the CARES Act prohibited organizations like Planned Parenthood from receiving money from the Small Business Administration, the administer of PPP loans.
The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help small businesses retain employees during #COVID19. @TheJusticeDept should investigate whether Planned Parenthood fraudulently applied for and received nearly $80 million in loans it was ineligible for. https://t.co/BahyErn4xy
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) May 21, 2020
The issue is whether or not Planned Parenthood affiliates are or can be considered small businesses.
“Like many other local nonprofits and health care providers,” said Jacquiline Ayers in a statement, “some independent Planned Parenthood 501(c)(3) organizations applied for and were awarded loans under the eligibility rules established by the CARES Act and the Small Business Administration (SBA), which they met.”
Ayers is the vice president of government relations and public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She released the statement on Wednesday.
“This is a clear political attack on Planned Parenthood health centers and access to reproductive health care,” read the statement.
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