Access to capital

On March 31, Small Business Majority submitted a response to the House Committee on Financial Services’ request for feedback on several pieces of legislation, including a bill to repeal Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act which requires financial institutions to collect and report data on small business lending. Our response urges the Committee to reconsider any efforts to repeal 1071, emphasizing its critical role in enhancing transparency and competition in small business lending which will expand access to capital for minority- and rural-owned businesses.

On March 20, Small Business Majority and 19 state and national business organizations sent a letter to President Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought in strong opposition to the March 14 executive order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, which attempts to dismantle several agencies including the Community Development Financial Institution (Fund) and the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA).

On February 21, Small Business Majority submitted a Statement for the Record in response to a recent U.S. House Committee on Small Business hearing titled “Driving Economic Growth: SBA Lending Programs and the Vital Role of Community Banks.” The statement emphasizes the need to protect Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act to enhance transparency in small business lending, expand access to small-dollar loans, and support the ongoing implementation of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).

Small Business Majority has created a comprehensive state policy agenda to ensure entrepreneurship is at the center of a thriving and inclusive economy in New York. It’s critical that state lawmakers enact short- and long-term policies to support and empower entrepreneurs by guaranteeing their access to capital, an infrastructure that can support their ability to offer quality jobs, and their ability to compete on a level-playing field. To achieve these goals, policymakers should consider the following policy proposals.

On February 14th, Small Business Majority submitted comments in support of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) proposed rule to encourage faster payments to small business subcontractors and streamline the reporting process for prime contracts. Our comments emphasize the need to hold prime contractors accountable for timely payments to small business subcontractors and to enhance transparency in the federal procurement system, ensuring better access to federal contract opportunities for small businesses.  
 

On February 5, Small Business Majority submitted a statement for the record to the House Committee on Financial Services which cautioned Congress against pursuing legislative efforts to repeal Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

On January 21, Small Business Majority submitted comments in response to a proposed rule issued by the Department of Defense (D0D), General Services Administration (GSA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to increase the sole source threshold to inflation for small businesses bidding for federal procurement opportunities.

On December 19, Small Business Majority sent a letter to congressional leadership urging Congress to work together to avoid a government shutdown and provide emergency funding to SBA to support the thousands of businesses across the nation waiting on disaster relief funding. Since the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it had exhausted funds for its disaster loan program in October, more than 20,000 approved disaster loan applicants are awaiting nearly $1.5 billion in relief which cannot be made available to them until Congress acts. 

On October 11, Small Business Majority sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to pass supplemental disaster relief funding for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loan program portfolio to support the recovery of the thousands of small businesses impacted by the devastation of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

On August 6, Small Business Majority submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in support of their proposed rule to remove medical debt from consideration when determining most credit reports. Our comments outline the importance of this rule for expanding access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurs, who often rely on personal credit products to finance their business needs.