A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found no more than 34% of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money went directly to workers who otherwise would have lost their jobs.

This is especially concerning because despite a requirement that at least 60% of funds received by businesses be spent saving jobs, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that 85% of these loans have already been forgiven.

And many truly small businesses and businesses owned by people of color in particular got left out, while some big businesses found ways to get in on it, including hotel chains and other hospitality businesses. Now the SBA is failing to make public crucial information about how businesses spent the money.

In March 2020, the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, California fired more than 200 of its workers, leaving employees who had dedicated decades of their lives to the hotel without job security or company-provided healthcare during the pandemic. Chateau was approved for a $1.95 million PPP loan in February 2021, but as of March 2022 only a small fraction of laid-off Chateau workers have been returned to their jobs.

“I feel like management at Chateau Marmont aren’t respecting my seniority or my humanity, and I say it’s unfair,” said Martha Moran, who had worked as a housekeeper at Chateau Marmont since 1986 before she was laid off.

Now, Representative Judy Chu is calling for real transparency.

Rep. Chu is demanding the SBA disclose the facts and provide the transparency Congress and the public need to determine what actually happened -- which workers were laid off and never rehired, and how many loans were forgiven for companies that didn’t save jobs.

Check out Congresswoman Judy Chu’s letter to the Small Business Administration and then Join Americans for Financial Reform and our partners at UNITE HERE Local 11 in signing on as a grassroots co-sponsor by adding your name now.

Full Letter Text: