Thread by @reveal

1/ The Paycheck Protection Program, one of the largest bailouts since the Great Depression, promised to help small businesses.
Yet our analysis of more than 5 million #ppploans found widespread racial disparities in where those loans were given out. revealnews.org/article/rampan…

2/ The disparities were visible across the nation.

We found that in almost every metro area with a population of 1 million or more, the rate of lending to majority White areas was higher than the rates for majority Latinx, Black or Asian areas. revealnews.org/article/which-…

3/ Businesses in majority White areas received loans at about twice the rate as those in majority Latinx areas in multiple major metro areas including New York, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas.

4/ The Los Angeles metro area had some of the worst in the nation: Businesses in majority-White areas received loans at twice the rate that majority-Latinx tracts received, one and a half times the rate of businesses in majority-Black areas and 1.2 times the rate in Asian areas.

5/ Last May, @reveal and 10 other news organizations sued the SBA for access to #ppploan data.

A federal judge ordered the release of the records in November.

6/ Our analysis is the first look at how #ppploans were distributed among communities by race at the census tract level.
Because banks did not routinely collect info on the race or gender of borrowers, we looked at loan totals, business data, and the racial makeup of each tract.

7/ Through the CARES Act, Congress ordered the @SBAgov and the Treasury Department to issue guidance to lenders to ensure that the loan program “prioritizes small business concerns and entities in underserved and rural markets.”
The SBA failed to do so for months.

8/ The first round of PPP, totaling $349 billion, opened up just days after the CARES Act was signed – and was depleted within 14 days.

Lenders had to prepare for the onslaught before the SBA had even issued guidelines.

9/ That rush widened the gap between who did and didn’t get PPP loans.

Any obstacle, such as missing paperwork or a lack of an existing relationship with a bank, risked leaving businesses last in line.

10/ Those businesses left out? Disproportionately the ones in majority Latinx, Black or Asian areas.
(📸by @jamesbernalfoto)

11/ Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the fair lending group National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said the disparities @reveal uncovered show that banks failed to live up to the goals of a 44-year-old law that requires them to equitably serve all communities where they do business.

12/ Of the disparities, Jesse said: “Is it fair? No. Is it equitable? No. Does it violate the spirit of the Community Reinvestment Act? Absolutely.”

Read our full story from @lauracmorel, @emilygharris + Mohamed Al Elew in partnership with the @latimes: revealnews.org/article/rampan…

13/ Or listen to the story on our podcast: revealnews.org/podcast/bankin…

14/ As a nonprofit, our bottom line is the public interest.

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