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Rep. Williams Disappointed by Rocky Shuttered Venue Operator Grant Opening

April 8, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Roger Williams (TX-25) voiced his disappointment in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) rollout of the of the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant (SVOG) application. The SVOG was authorized by the Congressman's bipartisan Save our Stages Act, which President Trump signed into law last December.

"The SVOG Application opened this afternoon at 12pm ET. I've already heard from constituents experiencing issues with the SBA's application portal, as of this afternoon the SBA temporarily suspended the portal due to technical difficulties.The SBA's rollout of the SVOG has been torturous for venue operators who were promised relief more than 3 months ago," said Congressman Williams. "My bipartisan Save our Stages Act authorized the SVOG and was signed into law by President Trump on December 27th. Under the Biden Administration the program has been plagued with delays and mismanagement at every juncture. President Biden failed to put in place capable SBA officials to deliver relief for small businesses and taxpayers in need. Just yesterday, the SBA's Office of the Inspector General issued a report detailing the Biden SBA's shortcomings with the SVOG, which hampered the application process and called into question whether the appropriate governance and oversight is in place.

It's critically important that that the House Small Business Committee address the SBA's shortcomings. Further delays for eligible business owners are unacceptable. I urge the SBA to make the SVOG a top priority moving forward and President Biden to put qualified individuals into key leadership positions so similar failures will not occur in the future."

The SVOG application page can be found here.

SVOG FAQ's can be found here.

Congressman Roger Williams represents the 25th Congressional District of Texas and serves as a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and as Vice-Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee.