Rep. Spano Fighting for Florida Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, March 11 -- Rep. Ross Spano, R-Florida, issued the following news release:

U.S. Representative Ross Spano (R-FL) participated in a Small Business Committee hearing titled 'The Impact of Coronavirus on America's Small Business'. On January 30th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over the Coronavirus. Since then, the virus has since impacted over 116,000 individuals and killed over 4,000 worldwide. This has caused global supply-chain disruptions and impacted small businesses in numerous ways.

"Given our strategic location, desirable tourism destination, and aging population, Florida is at the forefront of the coronavirus in America," said Rep. Spano. "We need to ensure our small businesses, particularly those in the tourism industry, are adequately prepared to deal with this situation without negative long-term effects."

At the hearing this morning, Spano centered his questions to industry experts around the effects we have already seen and what we can expect to see on small businesses and consumers nationwide. Florida 15th Congressional district is home to the critical I-4 corridor, connecting Tampa to Orlando. This portion of I-4 is a key component for many small businesses in the tourism, trade, commerce and logistics sectors of our economy.

On March 4, 2020, Rep. Spano led the Florida delegation in asking the Trump Administration to prioritize federal resources to prevent, respond to, and treat outbreaks of the coronavirus in Florida. The next day on March 5, 2020, it was announced Florida would receive an additional $22 million to help in confronting the virus. Additionally, under the Coronavirus emergency funding bill that Spano supported, small businesses that are impacted by the virus can qualify for low interest disaster loans from the Small Business Administration.

You can view the full hearing here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a1b77NQ-kY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1ILbYSFt1Hipzr6I0XjVfatMvaSXO7Pq-DqqF4h_PW66r9k1dBQy5Ge4M).