U.S. Senate approves bill to help small businesses
The U.S. Senate today overcame Republican opposition and approved the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010, a long-stalled bill aimed at providing assistance to the nation's small businesses and create jobs.
The aid package passed Thursday includes about $12 billion in tax relief for small businesses, as well as a $30 billion lending fund that will be administered by the U.S. Treasury Department. Those funds would go to qualified small banks that promise to extend new loans to small businesses, many of whom have had trouble getting loans in the wake of the financial crisis.
The 61-38 vote came when Republican Senators George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and George LeMieux (R-Fla.) joined the Democratic majority to give President Barack Obama a major legislative victory.
Voinovich said he supported the bill because the economy was "really hurting."
"It's the right thing to do," LeMieux said after the vote. "I don't think it's a panacea, but it will help."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the legislation the most significant legislative effort to aid the economy since the $800 billion stimulus approved by Congress in February 2009.
The Obama administration said the bill could create as many as 700,000 new jobs.
Because a key element of the bill would distribute billions to community banks in a position to lend to small businesses, Republican opponents of the bill called it little more than a watered-down version of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
"It had the mini-TARP in there, with no real help to small businesses, as far as I'm concerned," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Today's Senate vote sends the legislation back to the House, which already approved a similar measure and is expected to promptly approve the final passage next week.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), the chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, commented today on Senate passage of HR 5297, said, "Today's Senate vote is another important step toward helping small businesses access capital they need to fuel our economic recovery. The House-passed legislation included strong safeguards to ensure that banks boost their small business lending. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to ensure any final package achieves that goal."
Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of the conservative National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), was less complimentary of the bill.
Eckerly said, "Passing the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act is just the first step towards helping our nation's small business owners during these difficult economic times. While the bill passed today will help some small businesses that either qualify for the specified tax breaks or qualify for new loans, it falls short of addressing the most significant problems facing all small business owners - lack of sales and uncertainty. The Small Business Jobs Act should have been a vehicle to pass meaningful reform for every small business in this country. Instead politics trumped helping small business, and senators failed to pass the Johanns amendment which would have fully repealed the onerous new 1099 reporting requirement included in the healthcare law. This bipartisan amendment represented a real chance for senators to fix a costly and burdensome paperwork requirement that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree must be repealed, and it's disappointing that this amendment is not part of the bill passed today. Moving forward, we urge Congress to continue to focus on small business issues by eliminating the uncertainty over taxes. Until small business owners have some certainty over what their tax liability will be in the future, they will not be able to make plans to invest in their business and hire new workers. If Washington wants small businesses to resume their traditional role as our nation's job creators, Congress should extend all expiring tax rates, pass meaningful estate tax reform and repeal the 1099 reporting requirement."
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