Schrader Votes to Pass the Small Business Jobs Lending Fund Act

Press Release

Today, Congressman Kurt Schrader voted to pass HR 5297, the Small Business Jobs Lending Fund Act. The legislation passed the House 237-187.

"Small businesses are the engine of economic growth. Increasing access to capital will help small businesses create the jobs needed in our local communities to get us out of this recession. The Senate version of this bill incorporates many job-creating provisions including portions of my bill, HR 3854, the Small Business Financing and Investment Act which passed out of the House of Representatives last year with overwhelming bipartisan support and is fully paid for. We need to support capital for small businesses and we need to do it now and I believe that this bill does that."

More than 98 percent of all businesses in Oregon are characterized as small businesses and they employ almost 60 percent of the state's workforce. As the Chairman of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Finance and Tax, Schrader focused his attention on utilizing and maximizing the Small Business Administration's (SBA) diverse catalogue of lending programs and introduced HR 3854, The Small Business Financing and Investment Act.

HR 3854 will completely update and modernize the SBA's lending programs to incentivize banks to lend while cutting unnecessary and bureaucratic red-tape. The bill will also increase the maximum loan size of a standard SBA loan, extend provisions which provide a 90 percent guarantee by the government for an SBA loan, create a lender outreach program to incentivize lending in rural areas and cut down on many burdensome fees by the SBA. The House Committee on Small Business estimated that it would support more than $44 billion in annual small business lending and investment and create or save 1.3 million jobs each year. It passed the House of Representatives last year by a bipartisan vote of 389-32.

Many of the most important provisions of HR 3854 were incorporated into the Small Business Jobs Lending Fund Act which will now be signed into law. The Small Business Jobs Lending Fund Act supports the goal of helping small businesses access capital by establishing a $30 billion lending fund available for small and community banks and lowers interest for the banks that are proven to be lending to small businesses. This money is directed specifically for small businesses and allows banks to apply for a capital investment with limited risks by lowering annual per annum interest and dividends depending on their increase in loans.

It also includes $12 billion in tax relief for small businesses, supports commercial real estate debt being refinanced into long-term fixed-rate loans, while incentivizing $1.5 billion in state credit initiative programs including the Oregon Capital Access Program.

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