The United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Ranking Member Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, spoke on the floor of the Senate about the key small business provisions included in the Economic Recovery Package, and renewed their call for elevating SBA Administrator position to Cabinet-level status.
The bill includes provisions to increase access to capital for small firms. It temporarily eliminates fees on the Small Business Administration’s flagship loan programs — 7(a) and 504 loans — which could stimulate as much as $20 billion in new lending.
The bill also includes key assistance to microbusinesses, funding for the SBA’s surety bond program, which will help the agency guarantee bonds for small contractors who have been squeezed out of the conventional bonding markets, and $10 million for the SBA Inspector General’s oversight of small business stimulus funds.
On the Senate floor, Sens. Landrieu and Snowe also emphasized the need to elevate the SBA Administrator to Cabinet-level status so that the Administrator can better advocate for the needs of small businesses. Last week, the Senators sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting the move.
Apparently, during the Bush Administration, staffing of the Small Business Administration went from 3,000 down to 2,000. It is hoped that the yet-to-be-confirmed SBA Administrator, Karen Mills, will rebuild the SBA quickly.
Click here to read the full press release by the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship.
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