[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2612 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2612

       To provide economic stimulus for small business concerns.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 7 (legislative day, February 6), 2008

   Mr. Kerry introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To provide economic stimulus for small business concerns.

    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 Lending Stimulus Act 
of 2008''.

SEC. 2. ECONOMIC STIMULUS SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.

    (a) Reduction of Fees.--
            (1) Small business act loans.--
                    (A) In general.--For fiscal year 2008, and to the 
                extent the cost of such reduction in fees is offset by 
                appropriations, with respect to each loan guaranteed 
                under section 7(a) of Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
                636(a)), the Administrator shall--
                            (i) in lieu of the fee otherwise applicable 
                        under section 7(a)(23)(A) of the Small Business 
                        Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(23)(A)), collect an 
                        annual fee in an amount equal to a maximum of 
                        .25 percent of the outstanding balance of the 
                        deferred participation share of that loan;
                            (ii) in lieu of the fee otherwise 
                        applicable under section 7(a)(18)(A) of the 
                        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(18)(A)), 
                        collect a guarantee fee in an amount equal to a 
                        maximum of--
                                    (I) 1 percent of the deferred 
                                participation share of a total loan 
                                amount that is not more than $150,000;
                                    (II) 2.5 percent of the deferred 
                                participation share of a total loan 
                                amount that is more than $150,000 and 
                                not more than $700,000; and
                                    (III) 3 percent of the deferred 
                                participation share of a total loan 
                                amount that is more than $700,000; and
                            (iii) in lieu of the fee otherwise 
                        applicable under section 7(a)(18)(A)(iv) of the 
                        Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
                        636(a)(18)(A)(iv)), collect no fee.
                    (B) Implementation.--In carrying out this 
                paragraph, the Administrator shall reduce the fees for 
                a loan guaranteed under section 7(a) of Small Business 
                Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) to the maximum extent possible, 
                subject to the availability of appropriations.
            (2) Debentures.--For fiscal year 2008, and to the extent 
        the cost of such reduction in fees is offset by appropriations, 
        the Administrator shall, in lieu of the fee otherwise 
        applicable under section 503(d)(2) of the Small Business 
        Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 697(d)(2)) for an institution 
        described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of section 
        502(3)(B)(i) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 696(3)(B)(i)), collect no 
        fee.
    (b) Application of Fee Reductions.--If funds are made available to 
carry out subsection (a), the Administrator shall reduce the fees under 
subsection (a) for any loan guarantee or project subject to such 
subsection for which the application is pending approval on or after 
the date of enactment of this Act, until the amount provided for such 
purpose is expended.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator for fiscal year 2008--
            (1) $150,000,000 to carry out subsection (a)(1);
            (2) $45,000,000 to carry out subsection (a)(2);
            (3) $2,000,000 for direct loans under the Microloan Program 
        under section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        636(m)), in addition to any other amounts authorized to be 
        appropriated for such purposes; and
            (4) $10,000,000 for marketing, management, and technical 
        assistance under section 7(m)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 636(m)(4)) by intermediaries that make microloans under 
        the Microloan Program, in addition to any other amounts 
        authorized to be appropriated for such purposes.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the terms ``Administration'' and ``Administrator'' mean 
        the Small Business Administration and the Administrator 
        thereof, respectively; and
            (2) the term ``small business concern'' has the same 
        meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
        632).

SEC. 3. REFINANCING UNDER THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS LOAN PROGRAM.

    Section 502 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 
696) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) Permissible debt refinancing.--A financing under this 
        title may include refinancing of existing indebtedness, in an 
        amount not to exceed 50 percent of the projected cost of the 
        project financed under this title, if--
                    ``(A) the project financed under this title 
                involves the expansion of a small business concern;
                    ``(B) the existing indebtedness is collateralized 
                by fixed assets;
                    ``(C) the existing indebtedness was incurred for 
                the benefit of the small business concern;
                    ``(D) the proceeds of the existing indebtedness 
                were used to acquire land (including a building 
                situated thereon), to construct or expand a building 
                thereon, or to purchase equipment;
                    ``(E) the borrower has been current on all payments 
                due on the existing indebtedness for not less than 1 
                year preceding the proposed date of refinancing;
                    ``(F) the financing under this title will provide 
                better terms or a better rate of interest than exists 
                on the existing indebtedness on the proposed date of 
                refinancing;
                    ``(G) the financing under this title is not being 
                used to refinance any debt guaranteed by the 
                Government; and
                    ``(H) the financing under this title will be used 
                only for--
                            ``(i) refinancing existing indebtedness; or
                            ``(ii) costs relating to the project 
                        financed under this title.''.
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