Press Releases
Luetkemeyer's Bill Enhancing Access to Small Business Programs Approved by House
Washington, DC,
October 29, 2009
U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer's (MO-9) bi-partisan legislation aimed at making one of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) capital access programs more effective and responsive to the needs of America's small business owners passed the full House today and now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration. Luetkemeyer's legislation would help create jobs by expanding access to small business investment companies without additional costs to taxpayers.
U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s (MO-9) bi-partisan legislation aimed at making one of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) capital access programs more effective and responsive to the needs of America’s small business owners passed the full House today and now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration. Luetkemeyer’s legislation would help create jobs by expanding access to small business investment companies without additional costs to taxpayers. This is the second bill sponsored by Luetkemeyer to pass the full House designed to make the SBA’s programs more responsive to the needs of small business men and women. The Small Business Financing and Investment Act of 2009 addresses deficiencies in the SBA’s capital access programs to better address and meet the needs of our nation’s number one job creators, particularly for veteran-owned businesses and businesses located in rural areas. “Rather than relying so heavily on the government to borrow and spend our way out of this recession, we need to focus on ensuring small businesses are able to utilize all the resources already available to them to grow and create jobs,” said Luetkemeyer, a member of the House Small Business Committee. “I am pleased that this legislation is headed to the Senate and I encourage the Senate to consider this legislation to support small business owners and their employees without delay.” Luetkemeyer’s Small Business Investment Company Modernization and Improvement Act of 2009, part of the Small Business Financing and Investment Act of 2009, updates and streamlines the SBA’s largest investment program, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. The legislation aims to increase the number and size of investments made in small firms under the program. Perhaps equally important, the bill endeavors to halt the continued flight of SBICs that participate in the program by establishing an expedited licensing process. This would keep successful SBICs that are in good standing involved in the program. The legislation will also revise the SBIC leverage limitations to create an incentive for well-managed SBICs to remain in the program. This will be possible by allowing SBICs that are managed by the same management team to access the increased leverage limits available for a family of SBIC funds. Additionally, businesses will have access to greater investment under the provisions of the bill that expand the Energy Saving Debenture program and increase the amounts of leverage available to invest in veteran-owned businesses. ###
|