The $28.6 billion fund, part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that passed in March, set out to help cover the industry’s pandemic-driven losses, but the too-small purse caused controversy about how to distribute it.
Ultimately 370,000 businesses applied for $75 billion, but, early on, Congress had directed the SBA to give early access to businesses owned by women, veterans and “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” including those “who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias.” This led to a series of lawsuits, including from the Stephen Miller-led America First Legal, claiming that this put white male applicants at a disadvantage. The early applicants had
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