Thirty-seven Planned Parenthood locations applied and received a total of $80 million in funding from the Small Business Association’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) despite being a multi-billion-dollar company. Sen. Josh Hawley penned a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza requesting an explanation and outline of steps the association is taking to correct the error.
“Planned Parenthood is not a small business. It is a multi-billion-dollar company. In the fiscal year ending last June, Planned Parenthood had $2.3 billion in assets and nearly $2 billion in revenue. The year before, Planned Parenthood paid its CEO more than $1 million. And now, Planned Parenthood has diverted $80 million from actual small businesses during a global pandemic even though Planned Parenthood knew it was ineligible for this program,” Hawley said. “The ease with which Planned Parenthood was able to unlawfully divert $80 million should concern everyone.”
Since the inception of the CARES Act, Planned Parenthood was ineligible for the PPP. According to Section 1102 of the CARES Act, nonprofits are eligible for the program only if they and their affiliate organizations have no more than 500 employees. Just last month, Planned Parenthood employed 16,000 people nationally. The abortion giant fails to meet the criteria to apply or obtain a PPP loan.
Hawley is calling on the SBA to identify which Planned Parenthood affiliates improperly applied for PPP funds and identify the lending institutions through which the organization applied. He also asked the SBA to identify the officials who approved the funding and explain to the Senate how the process did not automatically flag applications from Planned Parenthood. Finally, Hawley is asking for the SBA’s plan to regain the funding they wrongly diverted to Planned Parenthood.
Other prominent Republican Senators called out the SBA for funding Planned Parenthood while leaving actual small businesses in the dust. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio insinuated Planned Parenthood may have knowingly broken the law to receive the funding.
“Planned Parenthood affiliates controlled by a parent organization sitting on a half a billion in net assets does not qualify for PPP. And if they knowingly broke the law they must be held accountable,” tweeted Rubio.
Planned Parenthood affiliates controlled by a parent organization sitting on half a billion in net assets does not qualify for #PPP. And if they knowingly broke the law they must be held accountable https://t.co/hYMgdvYeqJ https://t.co/C7M0e3uaM8
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 20, 2020
Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Planned Parenthood is another example of the PPP being misused. Higher education institutions such as Harvard and well-endowed companies such as Axios were ridiculed for accepting money from the PPP as they are not publicly perceived to be small businesses in need of funding. The universities and companies have since returned the funding.
“Yet another example of the PPP program being misused,” Scott tweeted. “Florida’s taxpayers should not be footing to bail out a huge organization like Planned Parenthood. This money should be returned immediately.”
Yet another example of the #PPP program being misused. Florida’s taxpayers should not be footing to bail out a huge organization like Planned Parenthood.
This money should be returned immediately.https://t.co/nt6zuKtUEf
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) May 20, 2020
Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn called Planned Parenthood’s acceptance of the PPP loan “disgusting.”
“It is disgusting to hear Planned Parenthood took $80 million dollars in taxpayer funded relief intended for small business owners. [Planned Parenthood] should not receive a cent of taxpayer dollars and should immediately return the funds. [SBA] must determine how this scheme occurred,” Blackburn tweeted.
It is disgusting to hear Planned Parenthood took $80 million dollars in tax payer funded relief intended for small business owners. @PPFA should not receive a cent of taxpayer dollars and should immediately return the funds. @SBAOIG must determine how this scheme occurred.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 20, 2020
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for the money flow to Planned Parenthood. Cruz, Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called out Pelosi for removing protections to prevent money from going to Planned Parenthood. Pelosi removed such protections in the House Democrats’ recent coronavirus relief package proposal dubbed the HEROES Act.
“Shame on Speaker Pelosi for taking advantage of a crisis that has put over 36 million Americans out of work to use taxpayer money to fund abortions,” Cruz tweeted.
Shame on @SpeakerPelosi for taking advantage of a crisis that has put over 36 MILLION Americans out of work to use taxpayer money to fund abortions. https://t.co/UQqqCZZBsV
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 15, 2020
Cotton told the Daily Caller News Foundation the Democrats have a clear agenda to prioritize funding to abortion clinics over small businesses, churches, and charities.
“The Democrats want the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, to qualify for taxpayer money meant for small businesses, churches, and charities,” Cotton told the DCNF. “Congress ought to devote every cent of federal funding to life-saving causes, instead of paying off purveyors of death.”
