FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Can SBA withhold identities of PPP loan recipients?

FOIA News (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Can the SBA Justify Its Decision to Release Only a Partial List of PPP Loan Recipients?

While the effort to foster transparency is laudable, the decision to limit disclosure to borrowers receiving loans over $150,000 leaves a large amount of information undisclosed. The public will remain in the dark as to three-quarters of the entities who received PPP loans.

By Matthew Collette, Nat’l Law Journal, July 20, 2020

Since the inception of the Payroll Protection Program to provide struggling businesses with loans under the CARES Act, the public and the media have been clamoring for information on who has received the loans. Controversies over a few acknowledged recipients, including Shake Shack and the Los Angeles Lakers, highlighted the lack of information about others. And in May, five prominent media outlets sued the Small Business Administration under the Freedom of Information Act for access to information about PPP loan recipients.

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