JUDGE: BUFFALO, ROCHESTER NOT ENTITLED TO PPP

FUNDS

Legal bills add to dioceses' woes

by Kristine Christlieb • ChurchMilitant.com • June 16, 2020

"ROCHESTER, N.Y. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A federal judge is upholding the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) denial of Wuhan virus payroll assistance to two bankrupt Catholic dioceses in New York.

United States District Judge Elizabeth Wolford is agreeing with the SBA that bankrupt organizations should not be allowed to take on new debt.

Facing a tidal wave of sex abuse lawsuits, both dioceses are chapter 11 bankruptcy debtors. The diocese of Rochester filed for bankruptcy in September 2019 and Buffalo followed in February 2020. The Buffalo diocese, in particular, has suffered recurring waves of scandal involving clerical sex abuse cover-up.

It filed for bankruptcy to shelter money from sex abuse victims.

Catholic Groups Rush for Aid

As of late May, 160 dioceses had applied for pandemic relief funds. This includes some 8,000 parishes, 1,400 elementary schools, 700 high schools, 104 chanceries and 185 Catholic Charities agencies, as well as an additional 200 other diocesan organizations. The diocese of Buffalo applied for $1.7 million in loans and Rochester applied for approximately $1 million. In the diocese of Buffalo, the payroll loan application is of particular note since it eliminated 21 positions in late March.

On March 27, President Trump signed into law the CARES Act which, among other things, established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a loan program to help businesses make payroll. The CARES Act granted the SBA emergency rule-making authority to issue regulations to administer the PPP. "

more at link:

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/judge-buffalo-rochester-not-entitled-to-ppp-funds