At least two oil and gas firms that boosted investors’ portfolios by buying back stock in 2019 received $15.5 million this year from a program designed to rescue small businesses gutted by the coronavirus pandemic. Those petroleum companies are among several across the U.S. economy that critics say inflated the value of their shares in recent years with buybacks and other measures that ultimately left less cash on hand to pay employees and deal with the unforseen pandemic.
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President Trump and Small Business Administration chief Jovita Carranza at the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
The Trump administration and Congress are facing a broader backlash over the effectiveness of the Paycheck Protection Program, which was designed to aid companies during the pandemic with fewer than 500 workers by offering loans that are forgivable if employers keep workers on the payroll. But the Small Business Administration’s emergency program has been plagued by funding shortfalls and bureaucratic snafus. One of the emerging concerns around it is that companies that put short-term returns for investors over the long-term health of their businesses are being rewarded with low-interest loans.