House coronavirus panel targets big corporations gobbling up small-biz aid

The House’s special panel policing coronavirus spending demanded Friday that five large corporations return rescue money that was intended for small businesses.

The letters to the five companies were the first official action of the newly formed Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

“Since your company is a public entity with a substantial investor base and access to the capital markets, we ask that you return these funds immediately,” the panel wrote. “Returning these funds will allow truly small businesses — which do not have access to alternative sources of capital — to obtain the emergency loans they need to avoid layoffs, stay in business, and whether the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis.”

Congress has authorized nearly $3 trillion in spending for the coronavirus crisis, including $2.2 trillion on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. More than $650 billion was spent on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that provides loans and grants to small businesses.

At least a dozen large companies have already returned a total of roughly $160 million in loans they received through the program.

Nearly 300 public companies disclosed receiving a total of more than $900 million from PPP, according to the Treasury.

Call for some companies to return of the money have come from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill and from the Trump administration.

The special subcommittee said it went after companies that were publicly owned, have a market capitalization of more than $25 million, have more than 600 employees, and sought and received small-business loans of $10 million or more.

The panel, which is chaired by House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, demanded the companies respond by Monday.

The letters went to EVO Transportation & Energy Services, Gulf Island Fabrication, MiMedx Group, Quantum Corporation and Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, according to the subcommittee.