FACT CHECK: Gardner Pushed To Give Big Corporations Relief Funds Meant For Small Businesses

Gardner allowed relief program to be “slush fund for the president,” gave millions to giant corporations as Colorado’s unemployment rate skyrocketed

Denver, CO - Senator Cory Gardner is out with another deceiving ad on his failed COVID response that leaves out the fact that he pushed to allow Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds to benefit large corporations, leaving less money for small and minority-owned businesses who were left behind. The Colorado Springs Business Journal wrote that Gardner refused to demand oversight over what became a "slush fund for the president, his political allies and corporate friends.” Meanwhile, Colorado’s unemployment rate skyrocketed and Senate Republicans allowed emergency unemployment insurance to expire and have blocked efforts to renew it.

“Instead of helping Colorado small businesses and unemployed workers, Senator Gardner pushed to open up the PPP program to large corporations and failed to demand oversight -- letting the Trump Administration dole out relief fund as they please,” said Colorado Democratic Party spokesperson Eli Rosen. “Senator Gardner has taken $5.7 million from corporate PACs -- the most in Colorado Senate history -- and does their bidding while leaving Colorado’s struggling small businesses behind.”

While Gardner filmed the ad during his month-long vacation, local leaders, workers, and veterans are decrying his failure to deliver emergency unemployment relief and funding for testing, schools, and local governments.

Here are the facts on how Gardner has failed Colorado small businesses:

GARDNER PUSHED FOR PPP LOANS TO GO TO BIG CORPORATIONS

• Gardner has taken $5.7 million from corporate PACs throughout his career -- the most in Colorado Senate History.

• Gardner pushed the Trump Administration to amend the program intended for small businesses to allow big corporate chains and franchises to receive loans, while many mom-and-pop businesses were left out.

• Millions of dollars from the PPP flowed to America’s biggest economic rival, China, while leaving out many small Colorado businesses. 

• CPR reported that the data on the number of jobs impacted by the PPP “don’t necessarily show what they appear to at first glance.”

• The PPP “left minority business owners behind,” with many Latinx, woman, and veteran-owned businesses not receiving the support they need to stay afloat.
  
• Gardner has been a reliable ally for big corporations, standing with President Trump “100%” to push through a $2 trillion tax giveaway to the wealthy and big corporations.

GARDNER ALLOWED COVID RELIEF TO BECOME “SLUSH FUND FOR PRESIDENT”

• Gardner refused to demand accountability on the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package and let it become “a slush fund for the president, his political allies and corporate friends.”
  
• The Colorado Springs Business Journal editorial board wrote that Gardner “seems to have the president’s ear — at least for now — [so] he should step up and demand the White House adhere to the principles of accountability and fiscal responsibility that Republicans claim to espouse.”
  
• Gardner has been a rubber stamp for “Mr. Trump’s war on accountability” and remained deafeningly silent after the president fired four inspector generals since April, which a fellow Republican called a “threat to accountable democracy.”

GARDNER TOOK A MONTH-LONG VACATION, FAILED TO DELIVER COVID RELIEF

• Gardner left Washington for a month-long recess without passing COVID relief. It has been 104 days since Gardner said recess would be “unfathomable,” yet he folded to Mitch McConnell and left town without getting additional relief for Colorado.

• Gardner is “fac[ing] pressure” from local leaders, workers, and veterans to extend emergency unemployment insurance and provide funding for local governments, schools, and the USPS.
  
• Gardner broke his promise that the Senate wouldn’t “drop the ball” and let emergency unemployment insurance expire, leaving over 300,000 Coloradans in a “terrifying” position.
  
• Gardner threw his support behind Trump’s executive actions to give the wealthy a tax cut that could “permanently deplete” Social Security funding by 2023, leaving our aging Coloradans out to dry.

• While Colorado was facing a surge in coronavirus cases, Gardner and Trump were caught “playing political games with lives” as Colorado tried to secure much-needed supplies.
  
• Even during the pandemic, Gardner is continuing to crusade against the Affordable Care Act, which has been a lifeline during the fight against COVID. But if Gardner and the GOP’s lawsuit to repeal the law is successful, 400,000+ Coloradans could lose Medicaid coverage and rural hospitals could shut down.

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