PPP Data Get Murky on Wrong Congress District for 226,000 Loans
- Analysis compares loans’ ZIP codes with government database
- Findings make it harder to assess small-business stimulus aid
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At least a quarter-million coronavirus relief loans may be listed in the wrong U.S. congressional district in data the Trump administration released for the Paycheck Protection Program, hampering efforts to determine how effective the initiative to help small businesses is.
Bloomberg News checked the roughly 4.9 million PPP loans against a Department of Housing and Urban Development database that tracks changes in ZIP codes and congressional districts quarterly. The analysis found 226,000 loans where the districts didn’t match HUD data.