articleA loan program meant to help small businesses stay afloat and pay their employees has returned five months after its first two rounds of funding ended. The U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Treasury Department relaunched the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, loan portal Monday. "SBA is continuing its dedicated commitment to underserved small businesses and to addressing potential access to capital barriers," SBA officials said in a statement after tweeting the announcement. The PPP is being restarted under the coronavirus relief bill Congress approved in late December, providing for $284 billion in new loans. As with the first two rounds of the PPP, applications must be submitted online at banks and other SBA-approved lenders.