WASHINGTON: The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation increasing the amount of time, to 24 weeks from the current eight weeks, for small businesses to use Paycheck Protection Program loans spurred by the coronavirus outbreak.
If the Republican-controlled Senate passes a bill that varies from the Democratic-led House's, the two chambers would have to reconcile differences before sending it to Republican President Donald Trump for signing into law. The House-passed bill comes as states have begun loosening efforts to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has raced across the United States and the world.More than 100,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Over 1.7 million U.S. cases have been reported.