[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1868 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1868

  To amend the Small Business Act to provide for increased access to 
 capital for small businesses under the section 7(a) loan program, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 27, 2005

  Ms. Velazquez (for herself, Ms. Bean, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Case, Mrs. 
 Christensen, and Mr. Cooper) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Small Business

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Small Business Act to provide for increased access to 
 capital for small businesses under the section 7(a) loan program, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Access to Capital Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF GUARANTEE FEES FOR SMALL BUSINESS BORROWERS.

    Section 7(a)(18)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(a)(18)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i), by striking ``2 percent'' and inserting 
        ``1 percent'';
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking ``3 percent'' and inserting 
        ``2.5 percent''; and
            (3) by striking clause (iv).

SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF GUARANTEE FEES FOR SMALL BUSINESS LENDERS.

    (a) Reduction of Lender Guarantee Fees.--Section 7(a)(23)(A) of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(23)(A)) is amended to read as 
follows:
                    ``(A) In general.--With respect to each loan 
                guaranteed under this subsection, the Administrator 
                shall assess, collect, and retain a fee, not to exceed 
                0.36 percent per year of the outstanding balance of the 
                deferred participation share of the loan.''.
    (b) Elimination of Fee Adjustment by Administration.--Section 
7(a)(23) of such Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(23)) is amended by striking 
subparagraph (C).

SEC. 4. COMBINATION FINANCING.

    Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(32) Combination financing.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A loan guaranteed under this 
                subsection may be combined with a non-guaranteed loan.
                    ``(B) Deferred participation loan security.--A loan 
                guaranteed under this subsection that is part of 
                combination financing may be secured by a subordinated 
                lien.
                    ``(C) Non-guaranteed loan amount.--In the case of 
                any combination financing, the amount of the non-
                guaranteed loan shall not exceed the gross amount of 
                the guaranteed loan.
                    ``(D) Non-guaranteed loan provisions.--A non-
                guaranteed loan that is part of a combination 
                financing--
                            ``(i) may be made by the participating 
                        lender that provides the guaranteed loan or may 
                        be made by a different lender;
                            ``(ii) may be secured by a senior lien; and
                            ``(iii) may be made by a lender in the 
                        Preferred Lenders Program, as defined in 
                        paragraph (2)(C)(ii), if applicable.
                    ``(E) Business loan eligibility.--The Administrator 
                shall not prescribe any standard relating to the 
                eligibility of small business concerns to obtain 
                combination financing under this paragraph that 
                unreasonably restricts the availability of combination 
                financing to small business concerns.
                    ``(F) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `combination financing' 
                        means financing comprised of a loan guaranteed 
                        under this subsection and a non-guaranteed 
                        loan; and
                            ``(ii) the term `non-guaranteed loan' means 
                        a loan, no portion of which is guaranteed by 
                        the Federal Government.''.

SEC. 5. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM GUARANTEED AMOUNT AND GROSS LOAN AMOUNT 
              UNDER SECTION 7(A) OF SMALL BUSINESS ACT.

    Section 7(a)(3)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
636(a)(3)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``1,500,000'' and inserting ``2,000,000''; 
        and
            (2) by striking ``2,000,000'' and inserting ``$3,000,000''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 
2005.
                                 <all>