Heller Reacts to Reports of Mismanaged Small Business Funds

Press Release

Today U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) reacted to a Wall Street Journal report that community banks mismanaged federal funds provided through the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.

"The beltway doublespeak is again off the charts. For all the talk about helping small businesses, in reality, Washington has again, using taxpayers' dollars, bailed out banks under the guise of helping businesses get access to credit," said Senator Heller.

According this report in the Wall Street Journal, instead of lending more than $2 billion of federal funds to small businesses, banks used these funds to pay off their more expensive debt. More than half of $4 billion lent to banks through the Small Business Lending Fund was used to repay funds received from the government's bank bailout.

"Here's another example of failed Washington policies that have not created jobs or helped Nevadans. As our debt rises to more than $14 trillion, we're finding that billions of dollars meant to help small businesses were misused. The President's health care law, the Wall Street bailout and the stimulus are all examples of how Washington's big-government approach is stifling job growth and mismanaging taxpayers' dollars," said Senator Heller.

The Small Business Lending Fund was created by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which Heller opposed. Heller was also the only member of the Nevada delegation to oppose the Wall Street bailout.

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