AGA calls for help from Trump
AGA president and CEO wrote a letter to US President Donald Trump about the PPP Interim Final Rules and to defend the industry.
US.- The American Gaming Association (AGA) president and CEO William C. Miller, Jr. wrote a letter to Donald Trump. He addressed the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program’s (PPP) Interim Final Rules, in order to defend the industry.
AGA’s letter to Trump
“AGA appreciates your leadership during this extraordinarily difficult time for our nation. The gaming industry is among the sectors most severely impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, in large part, due to mandated closure of facilities, which has jeopardized the livelihoods of the 1.8 million Americans whose jobs we support across 43 states.
“As you and your Administration continue to respond to the health, safety, and economic needs of the American people, I respectfully request your immediate intervention to address a significant problem with the Paycheck Protection Program’s (PPP) Interim Final Rules released by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on April 2, 2020. Specifically, these interim rules rely on antiquated, discriminatory policy that renders small gaming entities ineligible to receive critical loan assistance designed to help small businesses pay their employees.
“During this unprecedented time of business interruption and mandated closures, you clearly recognized through enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Review, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the need to assist a variety of small businesses that meet size-eligibility requirements. In addition to phone calls from dozens of bipartisan members of Congress to SBA over the past several days, the enclosed letters underscore the clear intent behind the legislation to help more, not fewer businesses during their time of need.2 The regional diversity of these Members also underscores the impact SBA’s unjustified decision will have on gaming workers and businesses in numerous states across the country.
“The gaming industry is an important economic engine, job creator, and taxpayer in 43 states. We share your overriding interest in employees retaining their jobs so they can get back to work quickly once this situation has subsided. Individuals who are laid off will otherwise be pushed into unemployment assistance and Medicaid. Not only are workers better off when they remain connected to their employer, this approach has long-term benefits to our economy. The dislocation costs associated with widespread unemployment are severe. Maintaining employees on payroll avoids rehiring complications, saves on future training costs, and increases productivity, which is essential to a faster economic recovery.
“In addition to gaming’s considerable needs to pay and provide for our own direct workforce, the gaming industry also supports 350,000 small business jobs. Making SBA resources available to size-eligible gaming businesses is the right thing to do. As it stands, the policy discriminates against these mainstream businesses and, more importantly, the hundreds of thousands of employees who rely on gaming for their livelihood.
“Accordingly, I trust you will agree it is critical that gaming companies and their employees can benefit from SBA loan programs, as the CARES Act intended.”
