Access to capital

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 policy proposals outlined in our New York state policy agenda.

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.

On July 17, Small Business Majority submitted comments in response to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s proposed rule to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Due to current restrictions, cannabis businesses, the majority of which are small businesses, are unable to access key tax deductions, government-backed financing, and additional small business resources to help support their enterprises.

On June 10, Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance and 21 small business advocacy and service oriented organizations sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committee’s in opposition to the cuts proposed within the House’s fiscal year 2025 Financial Services and General Government funding bill.

On May 20, Midwest Director Tasha Brown testified infront of the Illinois House Financial Institutions and Licensensing Committee on behalf of SB 2234, which would enact critical protections for small business borrowers in Illinois that are falling prey to predatory lending practices.