Donald Trump set to examine small casinos’ financial assistance plea

In the United States and President Donald Trump (pictured) reportedly announced yesterday that he is to consider altering how a recently-passed piece of legislation is administered so as to enable small casinos and gambling enterprises to receive emergency financial relief.

According to a Wednesday report from the Roll Call newspaper, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act ratified late last month allows small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees to access forgivable loans that they can utilize to cover payrolls during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Predictable prohibition:

However, the newspaper reported that the body in charge of administering this legislation, the United States Small Business Administration, has typically excluded any operations that derive more than one-third of their gross annual revenues from gambling. This historical prejudice has since purportedly prevented many small casinos, restaurants, convenience stores and hotels, especially in Nevada, from being able to access this coronavirus-related relief scheme.

Trump reportedly declared…

“I will take a look at that strongly. Nobody’s told me about it.”

Senatorial solicitation:

Roll Call reported that the issue was raised during a White House briefing on Wednesday after Democratic Nevada Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto partnered with Colorado counterpart Michael Bennet on a letter to United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the Administrator of the United States Small Business Administration, Jovita Carranza. This correspondence purportedly urged the Trump Administration to update its rules so that businesses with a significant gambling component can access these federally-backed loans.

Reportedly read the Senators’ letter…

“While there is no statutory mandate from Congress to exclude size-eligible gaming operations from receiving United States Small Business Administration assistance such as disaster loans, regulations and standard operating procedures have previously precluded entities that receive more than one-third of their gross annual revenues from legal gambling activities from receiving these loans.”

Additional assistance:

This action was reportedly backed up by a separate letter from Bill Miller, President of the American Gaming Association, that is said to have included supportive correspondence written by members of Congress from both parties.

Miller’s letter reportedly read…

“Specifically, these interim rules rely on antiquated [and] discriminatory policy that renders small gaming entities ineligible to receive critical loan assistance designed to help small businesses pay their employees.”