The Wall Street Journal: Small Businesses Object to Rerouting of COVID-19 Aid

The Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2022, Small Businesses Object to Rerouting of COVID-19 Aid

Small-business owners are bristling over a congressional proposal that would redirect unspent money from COVID-19 programs

 to provide $10 billion for the federal government’s pandemic health response, including vaccines and therapeutics.

At issue is about $5 billion that Congress allocated for three small-business aid programs but which hasn’t yet been spent. Some lawmakers want to repurpose those existing funds for healthcare, rather than allocate new money, because they are increasingly focused on reining in the federal deficit and spending amid a surge in inflation, which is at a 40-year high

.