Quigley Holds Call with SBA Administrator on SVOG Rollout

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) held a call with Isabella Casillas Guzman, the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to discuss the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program. On the call, Quigley expressed his alarm over the slow rollout of the SVOG program and the ongoing issues the program is experiencing. He also shared the concerns he has heard from his constituents, many of whom have contacted Quigley's office about the difficulty of accessing the program and the need for funding to be disbursed quickly. Guzman reassured Quigley that SBA is working diligently to correct the issues and is in the process of scaling up the disbursement of funds to applicants.

"I appreciated the opportunity to speak with Administrator Guzman and share the stories of my constituents who have attempted to access SVOG only to run into repeated issues with the program. The initial rollout of the program was a complete failure and the businesses who so badly need this support have been forced to wait even longer – after an already incredibly difficult year – for aid," said Quigley. "Administrator Guzman answered many of the difficult questions I posed to her about the SVOG's failures, made it clear SBA is hard at work to ensure SVOG is accessible to every venue who wants to apply and reassured me that there is ample funding available to applicants."