On January 21, CEO John Arensmeyer submitted a letter of support for the nomination of Isabel Guzman to head the Small Business Administration (SBA) to leaders of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship.
Policy Statements
Today, Small Business Majority submitted a letter regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposals under consideration for the implementation of Dodd Frank Section 1071. Successful implementation of Section 2071 would ameliorate the systemic barriers that women business owners and entrepreneurs of color face when attempting to access capital to start, grow and sustain their enterprises.
Today, Small Business Majority sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to pass a comprehensive and robust COVID-19 relief package. This week kicks off National Small Business Week when just last week, new data revealed small businesses across the country are closing permanently. The consequences of not passing a relief package that includes more funding for small businesses would be catastrophic.
Today, Johnathon Bush, small business owner of Not Just Cookies in Chicago, Illinois, submitted his testimony for the U.S. House Committee on Small Business's hearing on Transparency in Small Business Lending. Johnathon details the harmful impacts that a lack of transparency in small business lending has done to his business, which he built from the ground up.
Today, Small Business Majority submitted a comment for the Department of Labor's Request for Information outlining how paid leave policies support small businesses and their bottom lines. Commonsense paid leave policies support our evolving entrepreneurial community while ensuring small businesses can compete on a level playing field.
Today, Small Business Majority shared a letter with Senators Rubio, Cardin, Shaheen and Collins on recommendations for changes for S, 4321, the Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act. S, 4321 is a starting point in addressing the lack of flexibility that small business owners who participated in PPP are facing. However, the legislation requires critical changes to provide enough comprehensive changes that entrepreneurs need to sustain their businesses.
Today, Small Business Majority submitted a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to include S. 4117, the Paycheck Protection Small Business Forgiveness Act, in the next relief package. This bill would provide automatic forgiveness for all Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under $150,000, while also ensuring fraud protections are in place. Loans under $150,000 represent only 26% of the PPP funds disbursed, and the overwhelming majority of these loans likely went to the most vulnerable, COVID-19 impacted businesses.
Small Business Majority submitted written testimony for the record for the House Committee on Financial Service's Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion's, "Access Denied: Challenges for Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses Accessing Capital and Financial Services" hearing. The contributions of entrepreneurs of color and women to our local and national economies cannot be overlooked.
Small Business Majority submitted a letter to Senators Cramer, Menendez, Tillis and Sinema in support of the S. 4117, which would forgive all Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans under $150,000, ensuring small business businesses don't incur more debt during this economic crisis.
On June 18, Small Business Majority called on U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza to develop an oversight mechanism of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In a letter sent to the Administration, Small Business Majority proposed a straightforward approach to collecting relevant borrower information, while making publicly available only the full data of the highest 15% of borrowers.