The SBA originally said it would begin funding applications as soon as they came in April 26, a month and a half ago.
Now the team that handled the less-problematic $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund has come in to support shuttered-venue application processing, with a promise to get money out quickly.
Advocates—including New York’s two senators—and applicants have been calling for explanations about the botched rollout.
The leadership of the shuttered-venue program remains the same, within the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. The restaurant grant was run through a different SBA group: the Office of Capital Access, which operated it more like a direct-payment program.