The House of Representatives passed the Small Business Financing and Investment Act – or the small business recovery plan - by an overwhelming majority of 389 yes votes to 32 no votes last night.
This is big news across the news wires today. This legislation will increase the amount of money the SBA can lend by $44billion. It also increases the guarantee rate on SBA-backed loans from 75% to 90%.
“This bill is about choices. It’s about better options for the small businesses that didn’t get a bailout,” said Nydia M. Velázquez, the chairman of the House Small Business Committee.
“Small businesses with tight profit margins don’t have the luxury of simply ‘tightening the belt.’ When money is short, they’re often forced to lay off workers. But with unemployment at 9.8 percent, we just can’t afford more losses. That’s why this bill delivers critical capital to new ventures.”
It’s unclear when the funding will be transferred to the SBA and the bill must also pass through the Senate.
The IFA has come in to support the measure. Let’s hope now that this bill breezes through the Senate and the funding gets into the hands of the people that need it most: those franchisees and entrepreneurs up and down America.