House Panel Almost Triples SBA Budget
Mar 16th, 2009 | By Dawn R. Rivers | Category: Politics & PolicyNow that the federal government has its funding for the remainder of fiscal 2009 in place, Congress is free to turn its attention to figuring out the details of federal appropriations for fiscal 2010. It appears that the House Small Business Committee truly entered into the spirit of this, in a Budget Views and Estimates Letter requesting $1.43 billion in funding for the SBA in fiscal 2010. Yes, that’s right. That’s billion with a ‘b’. “Now is not the time to shortchange small businesses,” said Velázquez in a press release and she seems to have meant it.
The federal appropriation to subsidize the SBA 7(a) and 504 are back, which will make the agency more expensive to run but will also make the banks and borrowers happy. Microloan is funded at $30 million, which will support $50 million in loans plus $25 million in technical assistance. The entrepreneurial development programs are fully funded here, too; $135 million for the SBDCs, $17.5 million for the WBCs and $7 million for SCORE. On the flip side, the Committee suggests the axe for the SBA Express loans, Rural Lender Advantage, the National Veterans Business Development Corporation, the Drug Free Workplace program, the relatively new Emerging Cities initiative, and the HUBZone program. It all sounds wonderful, of course; let’s see how much of this actually makes it into the appropriations bills.
