Biz media win case against SBA to release PPP loan details

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Small Business Administration must release detailed information about Paycheck Protection Program loans, reports Matthew Kish of the Portland Business Journal.

Kish reports, “The judge made the ruling in a case filed in mid-May by The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, ProPublica and The New York Times. American City Business Journals (parent company of this publication), ABC, CNN, NBC, the Associated Press and the Center for Investigative Reporting joined as plaintiffs in late May.

“The news organizations asked for the release of detailed information about the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program, including the names of borrowers and the loan amounts.

“‘It’s important for our business journals to hold public institutions like the SBA accountable when they are disbursing taxpayer funds,’ said Jon Wile, vice president of content for American City Business Journals, when ACBJ joined the lawsuit. ‘And for our readers, there is tremendous value for them to see which banks processed the loans and to see how much funding their competitors and peers received. It is critical this lending information be released in a complete and timely fashion.'”

Read more here.