Idaho Lt. Gov. takes $ 300,000 in federal PPP coronavirus loans
Idaho Lieutenant Governor. Janice McGeachin accepted $ 314,727 under the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal coronavirus relief program, according to records.
Three months later, she wrote an editorial published in newspapers through the state criticizing those “who advocate socialized medicine, unearned income and other handouts … which promote addiction”.
The money was offered to employers as part of the $ 2.2 trillion coronavirus assistance bill passed by Congress in March. The PPP was an emergency program to keep workers at work at taxpayer expense at a time when the incomes of many employers had collapsed. The money was provided in the form of loans to be canceled if beneficiaries showed that most of it was spent on payroll.
One of McGeachin’s businesses, JR McGeachin Inc., received two loans, one valued at $ 281,853.40 and the other at $ 32,873.47. The address listed for both loans is his Idaho Falls-based transmission parts wholesale business, Idaho Transmission Warehouse, which has an outlet in Boise.
McGeachin also owns or co-owns other businesses, including one that reconditiones parts that transfer energy from a vehicle’s engine to its transmission; and a bar, The Celt Pub & Grill, in Idaho Falls.
The loans came to light after the court-ordered release Tuesday night by the US Small Business Administration of PPP loans under $ 150,000 nationwide. Larger loans were disclosed earlier.
The first public data on loans provided only a limited look in companies that receive them, but a lawsuit filed by several news outlets led a federal judge to order the SBA to release more information. As a result, Idaho residents can now better see how much money Idaho businesses have received.
Idaho businesses have secured loans ranging from $ 100 million to $ 10 million. The average loan was worth $ 83,619; the median $ 22,030.
“Like many small business owners, our family businesses have been significantly affected by the government’s heavy hand in 2020,” McGeachin wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. shared on social networks. “In order to keep as many of our employees as possible in our workforce, we took advantage of the partial restitution made available through the PPP. The money provided is only a small fraction of the income lost, of course. “
The first loan to his company helped protect 28 jobs, according to data from the SBA, whose figures were reported by banks and other lenders who distributed the funds to employers. The second protected seven jobs. Both were dated April 28.
McGeachin, a former Idaho Falls state lawmaker, isn’t the only elected state official to accept federal coronavirus relief money in Idaho.
For example, State Representative Joe Palmer, a Republican from Meridian, secured $ 10,300 in P3 loans for his consignment store. State Senator Mary Souza, a Republican from Coeur d’Alene, secured a PPP loan of $ 66,900 for her event organization business. State Representative Mike Moyle, a Star farmer and majority leader of Idaho House, received $ 10,000 in the form of a state-administered grant.
McGeachin is a vocal critic of the government’s financial support. In a July editorial, sent to multiple media outlets, she said she believed Idaho could “move away from debt-financed spending and other programs that promote addiction.”
And she has said several times Governor Brad Little’s Strategies to Combat COVID encroach on business and freedom. In early last spring, when Little issued a stay-at-home order to curb the spread of the virus, McGeachin opposed it.
That hasn’t stopped Little from appointing her in April to her coronavirus financial advisory committee, which Little uses to help guide her decisions about spending the $ 1.2 billion Idaho received from Congress. for relief from coronaviruses. This money is in addition to P3 loans, unemployment compensation supplements, and other federal relief funds that have been provided to Idahoans.
“I consider it my duty to represent the taxpayers of Idaho – those who ultimately pay the bills – and to be a voice for budget restraint and accountability, even when debauchery may be in effect. vogue, ”she wrote.
In her Thursday article, she again promoted free markets over government intervention.
“I find it disturbing that the media and partisan interests shame small business owners for keeping their employees whole,” McGeachin wrote. “Would they rather Idaho families go hungry instead?
“In a truly free market, devoid of government blockades and other mandates, our businesses would operate normally and our employees’ incomes would be secure. We would certainly prefer not to need PPP loans. Let us work towards a better future where freedom takes precedence over fear and where restrictions and government programs designed to counter their harmful effects are not necessary. “
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 3:34 pm.
CORRECTION: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s July editorial criticized people “for advocating socialized medicine, unearned income and other handouts,” but did not criticize the recipients, as an earlier version of this story put it .
Corrected on December 4, 2020