Builders Fund endorses Susan Collins for Senate

I am endorsing Susan Collins for Senate in Maine.

Her record on capital access for small businesses is real. She co-authored the Paycheck Protection Program, the largest small business capital access program in American history. The Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act she wrote with Senators Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin, and Jeanne Shaheen became PPP inside the CARES Act, which passed the Senate 96-0 and was signed on March 27, 2020. SBA and Treasury confirmed 5.2 million forgivable loans worth $525 billion, supporting more than 51 million jobs, with $670 billion authorized in total. In Maine alone, nearly 43,000 loans totaling $3.1 billion reached employers across the state.

When the first round ran dry, she negotiated the $320 billion replenishment and pushed Treasury rules giving seasonal businesses flexibility. She co-led the PPP Extension Act of 2021, signed into law, which kept the program open through May 2021 for the smallest employers. As an appropriator she funded SBA Small Business Development Centers and SCORE mentoring. The National Federation of Independent Business has honored her as a Guardian of Small Business in five Congresses, and she scored 100 out of 100 on its Senate scorecard in the 118th Congress.

Susan Collins is a Republican running a nonpartisan-style record. This is a builder's record, and this is the kind of record the Builders Fund exists to recognize.