[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4534 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4534
To amend the Small Business Act to establish a direct loan program for
microbusinesses at the Small Business Administration, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 14, 2026
Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Ms. Alsobrooks) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Small Business Act to establish a direct loan program for
microbusinesses at the Small Business Administration, 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 ``Microbusiness Support Act''.
SEC. 2. DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM FOR MICROBUSINESSES.
Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(38) Microbusiness loan program.--
``(A) Definition.--
``(i) In general.--In this paragraph, the
term `microbusiness' means an independently
owned and operated for-profit business entity
that--
``(I) employs not more than 10
full-time employees, determined on a
full-time equivalent basis; and
``(II) has annual revenue of not
more than the lesser of--
``(aa) $5,000,000; or
``(bb) the size standard in
dollars, if any, for the North
American Industry
Classification System code
assigned to the business entity
for the business entity to
qualify as a small business
concern.
``(ii) Full-time.--For purposes of clause
(i), the term `full-time' means that an
individual--
``(I) is employed for consideration
for not less than 35 hours each week;
or
``(II) renders any other standard
of service generally accepted by custom
or specified by contract as full-time
employment.
``(iii) Verification.--The Administrator
may request from a business entity such
documentation as may be necessary to establish
that the business entity qualifies as a
microbusiness under this subparagraph.
``(B) Authority.--The Administrator is authorized
to originate and disburse direct loans, including
through partnerships with third parties, to
microbusinesses under this subsection.
``(C) Maximum amount.--The maximum amount of a loan
made under this paragraph to a microbusiness is
$100,000.
``(D) Fees.--With respect to each loan made under
this paragraph, the Administrator, an authorized third
party, or an agent may--
``(i) impose, collect, retain, and utilize
fees, which may be charged to the borrower, to
cover any costs associated with referring
applications or originating, making,
underwriting, disbursing, closing, servicing,
or liquidating the loan, including any direct
lending agent costs, other program or contract
costs, or other agent administrative expenses;
``(ii) impose, collect, retain, and utilize
fees (including unused fees and draw fees),
which may be charged to the borrower on loans
for revolving lines of credit; and
``(iii) pay third parties, including direct
lending agents and financial institutions, with
which the Administration partners for
assistance in referring applicants or
promoting, originating, making, underwriting,
disbursing, closing, servicing, or liquidating
loans in accordance with this paragraph on
behalf of the Administration.
``(E) Terms.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this paragraph,
the Administrator shall issue interim final
rules and revise any relevant rules to
establish the terms and conditions for a direct
loan made under this paragraph, including with
respect to repayment, underwriting criteria,
interest rate, maturity, and other terms.
``(ii) Interest rate.--The interest rate
for a loan made under this paragraph shall be
in accordance with paragraph (4)(A), except `6
percent per annum' shall be substituted for `1
percent per annum'.''.
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