WASHINGTON, D.C.–You’ve been hearing about Sen. Todd Young’s RESTART Act as he toured the state, talking to business owners and employees. Now, he’s taking it to his colleagues in the U.S. Senate. His hope is to get the program passed to allow businesses flexibility in spending federal money.

“Like many other states, Indiana is in the process of reopening our economy,” he said Wednesday on the Senate floor. “The cities on my tour had businesses in various stages of reopening. Restaurants like Catablu Grille in Fort Wayne, Arni’s in Lafayette, and Woody’s Library in Carmel are open at 50 percent capacity. The non-profit Terre Haute Children’s Museum remains closed, and is struggling to pay its employees. At Zimmer Biomet Hibbard, a medical device company in Valparaiso, sales dropped 95 percent in March.”

Young said what has helped save Zimmer is money from the Paycheck Protection Program, to pay employees, but that Congress needs to keep looking for ways to help businesses with more than just paying employees.

“PPP requires funds to be spent in eight weeks, and most restaurants, gyms, boutiques and other businesses were not permitted to be open during part or all of their eight weeks. So, the first part of the RESTART Act extends that timeframe to 16 weeks for the hardest-hit businesses,” he said.

He said PPP was meant to be a bridge to reopening the economy. But that many small businesses have a much longer bridge to cross.

“Our new RESTART Program would provide loans covering up to six months of payroll and fixed expenses for businesses that have taken a substantial revenue hit during the coronavirus pandemic,” he said. “It would provide needed funds with flexibility for business owners to pay bills, implement social distancing measures, and bring employees back to work.”

He ended his speech ny asking his fellow senators to consider the benefits to small businesses.

“Hoosiers want to work and business owners are eager to pay them.”