UNITED STATES, May 9, 2020 (The Sun): Between 12,000 and 13,000 of the 17,000 US Catholic churches applied for PPP (federal Paycheck Protection Program) loans. Pat Markey, the executive director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, an association of finance officers from Catholic dioceses, estimates that around 6,000 Catholic parishes had their applications for federal funding approved in the first round of PPP and around 3,000 have received loans so far in the second round, according to CBS.
The requirements for PPP loans are the same whether a business or organization is secular or not. Markey said that houses of worship and their affiliated schools are trying to keep employees on their payrolls as well, just like other businesses. He said: “The PPP isn’t about the federal government assisting houses of worship or churches.” “PPP is about keeping people on payrolls and a large segment of our society is the not-for-profit world. And a large segment of that society is churches and houses of worship. And they have people on payrolls too. So, if what this is about is keeping people on payrolls, then we all should have availability to do that.”
According to the US Small Business Administration, “Churches (including temples, mosques, synagogues, and other houses of worship), integrated auxiliaries of churches, and conventions or associations of churches qualify for PPP and EIDL loans as long as they meet the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and all other PPP and EIDL requirements.” [HPI adds: US Hindu temples are all 501(c)(3) organizations, and many further have applied and received the IRS designation as a “church”–a designation available to the place of worship of any religion and carrying considerable tax and reporting advantages–see Hinduism Today https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1503.]
So provided an individual branch employs 500 people or fewer, it can now request a federal loan for up to two and a half times its average monthly payroll under the same rules meant to save businesses. US houses of worship are experiencing a drop in donations as people are no longer allowed to worship together in person.