WASHINGTON, D.C. — So many of Ohio’s 950,000 small businesses are struggling to survive right now because of the coronavirus.

• Rep. Chabot says “this is worse” than ’08 financial crisis
• Congress has approved $350 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses
• No lawmaker knows if this will be enough help

Capitol Hill took note last week, with lawmakers passing a relief package that includes billions in loans that could be forgiven.

"It’s $350 billion, so a third of a trillion dollars for small businesses,” said Representative Steve Chabot (R, 1st Congressional District). “That’s important. It’s going to go a long way.”

But it’s not yet known if that will be enough.

Chabot, who represents the Cincinnati area, is the top Republican on the House Small Business Committee.

In an interview last Friday, he said the coronavirus crisis, for small businesses, is like nothing he’s seen before.

“The only thing that comes even close in the times that I’ve been here is the 2008/2009 economic meltdown, but that was different from this,” Chabot said. “This time, this is worse, it’s happened more quickly, and it’s affecting a lot more people.”

The $350 billion in loans is for small businesses and nonprofits with less than 500 employees, including folks who are self-employed.

These are different than typical “disaster loans” offered by the Small Business Administration; and you’ll apply for them through your bank or credit union directly.

Up to $10 million in loans will be available per business to cover things like payroll, rent and utilities. And those loans can be forgiven if they’re used to strictly keep your employees paid and the lights on.

The loans are meant to cover costs incurred between February 15, 2020 and June 30, 2020.

"As a conservative, I would normally say that the best thing that the government can do for businesses is to leave them alone, especially small businesses,” Chabot said. “This is one time — we are in a national emergency — and they’re being shut down all over the country through no fault of their own, and so this is a time when they do need an infusion of cash.”

No member of Congress I spoke with knows if this loan program will be enough.

There is bipartisan agreement, though, that the federal government will have to do more if the small business economy needs it, because business owners didn’t cause this.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

In a Skype interview on Tuesday, he said the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have to make sure this new loan program is rolled out quickly and efficiently.

“I talked to small businesses in Dayton and Cincinnati and Athens and Youngstown that — they’re living on the edge right now and they don’t have a lot of time,” Brown said. “The faster we move, the faster the Fed moves, the faster the Treasury Department moves, the better for them.”

If you’re a small business owner who can use one of these loans, you should first contact your bank to find out if it’s an approved lender.

You can learn more about the application process by clicking here.