The House of Representatives has approved a bill, which recently passed the Senate, extending the life of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) until Aug. 8, said MarketWatch. It now goes to the White House for the president's signature.

The PPP formally expired on June 30, but with $130 billion left in its coffers, lawmakers thought that there should be more time  for businesses that need them to claim these remaining funds. Yet it is uncertain just how many businesses will actually do so, as demand for the program's funds has shrunk dramatically from its initial debut, when funds ran out in just 13 days. Over time, it seems, many have come to the conclusion that, given the shifting rules and regulations, particularly those surrounding loan forgiveness, the program is more trouble than it's worth. These concerns prompted the government to relax some of the forgiveness terms, such as the time in which a business had to spend the money and the degree to which it must be spent on payroll. However, these changes have apparently not been enough to sweeten the deal for many, given the amount of money left over in the program.

These confusing terms were just one of the many challenges that the PPP has experienced in its implementation. Another has been large companies claiming funds that were meant for small businesses. Bloomberg reported today that private equity funds in particular were quite adept at doing so, with some finding novel ways to skirt rules that would have barred their participation. For instance, there is a rule that if a private equity firm controls enough board seats to block decisions, then the company is ineligible to receive funds. Some private equity firms responded by ceding board seats or making other concessions. The Treasury Department then added to guidance a requirement that if private equity forms forfeited their right to block action by the board or shareholders, they must do so irrevocably. The firms, then, skirted the rule by other means, such as giving up just the power to make hiring and firing decisions.

Bloomberg said that some of these private equity funds may return the money now that the White House has agreed to eventually disclose the identities of those who took it.

Other firms, reported Bloomberg, were able to benefit indirectly. Many states prevent private equity investors from directly owning dental practices, but firms got around this restriction by setting up separate entities that provide business and administrative support to dentists. These entities were able to successfully help the dental practices that they service claim PPP funds, which allowed the entities to be back in business when the dental practices reopened. Bloomberg quoted a spokeswoman for one such entity, Aspen Dental Management Inc., as saying that Aspen Dental itself didn’t seek Small Business Administration funding. Instead, Aspen “provided certain payroll and operations data, as required in the loan applications, for those independent practices who chose to apply for the PPP loans.”