April 17, 2020

Today Representative Dina Titus of Nevada’s First Congressional District, the Co-Chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, introduced House legislation to help local businesses access loans and grants provided by the Small Business Administration. The Equal Access to COVID-19 Relief Act would ensure equal treatment of small gaming entities by the Treasury Department in administering relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and other federal relief efforts. 

U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) will introduce the Equal Access to COVID-19 Relief Act in the Senate.

The Paycheck Protection Program recently established by Congress is critical to our nation’s economic recovery, but many small businesses in the gaming industry have arbitrarily been excluded by the SBA from participating. Small businesses in the gaming industry support more than 350,000 jobs in the United States and are in desperate need of assistance in order to recover from this crisis.

“The Trump Administration’s attempt to prevent small gaming businesses from accessing relief is hurting Las Vegas,” said Congresswoman Titus (NV-1). “The people who work at these small businesses are struggling right now and it’s shameful that the Treasury Department would try to ignore the intent of Congress. The legislation I’m introducing in the House will help make sure that small gaming businesses will get much-needed relief. I’m grateful to work with our entire delegation to get this done.”

“Nevada small businesses that engage in legal gaming make up key parts of our state’s economy. These businesses should be given the same access to coronavirus relief as any other small business,” said Senator Rosen. “This legislation will ensure that gaming small businesses are given full access to participate in COVID-19 small business relief. We will continue fighting so that all of Nevada’s small business community will have access to much-needed help during this time of crisis.”

The House legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Amodei (NV-2), Gosar (AZ-4), Horsford (NV-4), Lee (NV-3), and Thompson (MS-2).