The SBA has slashed EIDL loan limits and is shutting out new applicants. Here's what we know.

EIDL loans, one of the major sources of funding for struggling businesses during the pandemic has scaled down significantly, limiting loans and shutting out nearly all new applicants. The Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, a lending program for disaster relief that predates the pandemic, was given an additional $50 billion in funding to distribute to business owners during COVID-19.

The SBA originally told businesses they could get as much as $2 million from the program to ride out the coronavirus crisis, including $10,000 advances. But after becoming overwhelmed with applications, the SBA shut down the EIDL application portal in mid-April. On Monday, the SBA reopened applications – on a very limited basis.  Sources within the SBA  also say that the loans are being capped at $150,000.

As the SBA works through the millions of applications that remain in their backlog, the administration is accepting new applications only from agricultural businesses. Until now, the EIDL program excluded agriculture. Republicans have pushed for the agricultural industry to be prioritized in coronavirus relief funding. Applications from other businesses that were submitted prior to the portal shutdown will be processed by date. Check out our EIDL Loan tracker to see crowdsourced information on who has received loans.

“For more than 30 years, SBA has been prohibited by law from providing disaster assistance to agricultural businesses; however, as a result of the unprecedented legislation enacted by President Trump, American farmers, ranchers and other agricultural businesses will now have access to emergency working capital,” said Administrator Jovita Carranza (pictured), who heads up the program. “These low-interest, long-term loans will help keep agricultural businesses viable while bringing stability to the nation’s vitally important food supply chains.”