SBA to Investigate Planned Parenthood Affiliate for Applying for Paycheck Protection Program Loan
In a letter to Planned Parenthood of Delaware dated Tuesday obtained by CNN, the SBA wrote that because Planned Parenthood of Delaware “is a local affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America… Paycheck Protection Program Loan in under applicable membership rules and size standards, as intended by Congress, and that the loan you received is to be returned. “
The letter states that the loan of $ 496,225 that the Delaware affiliate requested and received “is one of 38 loans that local PPFA affiliates have requested through the Paycheck Protection Program.” In total, local PPFA affiliates have requested more than $ 80 million in paychecks. Protection Program Loans. “
It is not known whether the Small Business Administration requires these affiliates to return the loans they have received.
The SBA “will investigate” if Planned Parenthood of Delaware disputes the findings “to assess PPD’s eligibility for a Paycheck Protection Program loan and the basis of PPD’s eligibility certification,” the letter said. . The agency requested documents certifying the certification within 10 days of receiving the letter, noting that the SBA may refer borrowers who knowingly made false certifications “for appropriate civil and criminal penalties.”
Jacqueline Ayers, vice president of government relations and public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, confirmed in a statement Wednesday that “certain organizations independent of Planned Parenthood 501 (c) (3) have applied for and obtained loans in accordance with eligibility rules established by CARES. Act and the Small Business Administration (SBA), whom they met. ”
A source from Planned Parenthood said Planned Parenthood of Delaware and other affiliates received such letters in the mail on Thursday, but were unsure how many affiliates received them due to varying mailing times and delays. people working remotely.
Contacted about the letters, SBA press director Carol Wilkerson said the agency had made no comment.
“The PPFA is known to have and exercise control over its local affiliates,” the SBA wrote, highlighting the mandates and certifications of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for its affiliates. “Yet PPD has not identified PPFA or any of the other local PPFA offices as affiliates.”
The Planned Parenthood source refuted the SBA’s claim that the Planned Parenthood Federation of America exercises managerial control over its affiliates as false. The source said the Planned Parenthood Federation of America does not share management with its subsidiaries or control their internal operations in the examples referenced by the SBA, noting that they have different boards and management teams. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America itself has not applied for a PPP loan, the source added.
Republican senators criticized Planned Parenthood for applying for the SBA loans and asked for answers on how affiliates received them.
“It seems clear that Planned Parenthood knew that it was not eligible for small business loans under the CARES Act long before its subsidiaries fraudulently self-certified that they were eligible,” they wrote.
Ayers of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America called the focus on affiliate loans “a clear political attack on Planned Parenthood health centers and access to reproductive health care.”
“It has nothing to do with the eligibility of Planned Parenthood’s healthcare organizations for Covid-19 relief efforts,” she added, “and everything to do with the Trump administration using a public health crisis to advance a political agenda and deflect attention from their own failures to protect the American public from the spread of Covid-19. ”
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.