[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13223]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SMALL BUSINESS LENDING

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise to speak of an amendment, 
cosponsored by Senators Grassley, Enzi, Isakson, and Collins, which has 
proven small business job creating power.
  It should come as no surprise to anyone that it remains difficult for 
small businesses to access credit. We have all heard the justifiable 
frustration and outrage expressed by entrepreneurs nationwide in 
response to the albatross of tight credit which has a chokehold on our 
economy. And frankly, who could blame them, when just this past April, 
the Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey found the 
percentage of banks easing credit terms for small businesses was just a 
meager 1.9 percent--after it was an astonishing zero percent in both 
the past January and October surveys! Is this any way to jumpstart an 
anemic economy?
  As ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee I, along 
with Chair Landrieu, have vigorously championed measures to ease credit 
and increase small business lending. Together, we fought to include in 
the Recovery Act key provisions to increase the maximum government 
guarantee on Small Business Administration, SBA, loans to 90 percent 
and to appropriate $375 million to reduce fees for SBA 7(a) and 504 
borrowers. This program proved to be so popular and viable that its 
funds were expended first in November 2009, then in February 2010, and 
again in March 2010, following short term extensions.
  But regrettably, these provisions have lapsed, and a program that 
paid tangible dividends, having been credited with increasing loan 
volumes by a remarkable 90 percent nationwide and 236 percent in Maine, 
has to my dismay come to a close. At a time when unemployment hovers at 
near ten percent and consumer confidence hangs in abeyance, nothing 
could be more counter-intuitive than to allow this to happen. And the 
numbers speak for themselves. In June alone, the SBA approved only $647 
million in SBA 7(a) guaranteed loans, a 65.9 percent decrease from the 
$1.9 billion in 7(a) loans it approved in May.
  No wonder in a July 11 New York Times article, SBA Administrator 
Karen Mills urged Congress to continue these programs, stating that 
``we've been able to put $30 billion in the hands of small businesses 
and now is not the time to pull back . . . .'' Talk about the 
proverbial snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!
  Our amendment would resuscitate this highly effective program, 
providing $485 million to reinstate SBA fee reductions and the elevated 
guarantee on SBA 7(a) loans through the end of 2010. And we pay for it 
by using unobligated Recovery Act funds. In fact, according to the 
Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, there are approximately 
$50 billion in unobligated stimulus funds, and our amendment, which 
would cost less than 1 percent--.97 percent to be exact--of the overall 
amount, is paid for by rescinding, on a pro rated basis, from these 
funds. While we all must make difficult spending decisions, it should 
be clear that reinstating these vital provisions represents a 
commonsense approach to providing capital to small businesses across 
our Nation.
  These are actions we can take right here and right now that 
complement this bill's SBA related provisions which increase the 
maximum limits for SBA 7(a) and 504 loans from $2 million to $5 
million, raise the maximum microloan limit from $35,000 to $50,000, and 
allow for the refinancing of conventional small business loans through 
the SBA 504 program.
  They will begin providing capital immediately to small businesses, 
and they have strong industry support from the National Association of 
Development Companies, which represents 504 lenders and the National 
Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, which represents 7(a) 
lenders.
  In conclusion, this initiative ought to be a simple way to swiftly 
provide assistance to those economic engines that are the lifeblood of 
our economy--our Nation's small businesses. It is my hope that this 
body can accept this amendment quickly, by unanimous consent, so that 
we can provide our economic catalysts with at least a modicum of 
capital security, financial stability, and economic certainty.

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