The Indiana Bankers Association has joined the banking community nationwide in urging Congress to provide immediate new funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Due to high demand for PPP loan applications, funding of the loans has run out. If this lapse in appropriations is not addressed, funding will not be able to be renewed, according to the Indiana Bankers Association. The PPP was put into effect on April 3 as part of the CARES Act with $350 billion in funding for small business loans backed by the Small Business Administration. These loans allow small businesses to meet payroll during the pandemic shutdown to prevent layoffs and preserve jobs. Additional funding of $250 billion has been requested but failed to pass Congress. The Indiana Bankers Association also says that immediate new funding is now critically needed to allow more loans to be made available to protect small business and save jobs. The banking community has been instrumental in making PPP loans available to the small business sector. Per an SBA Paycheck Protection Program Report issued on Tuesday, as of April 13 Indiana banks have assisted in completing 23,583 PPP loans totaling over 5.9 billion dollars in approved dollars. Nationwide, as of April 13, 4,664 lenders worked with small businesses to complete applications for 1,035,086 loans approved, totaling over 247.5 billion gross dollars.