This bill is being considered on the floor under suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. This legislation was introduced by Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) on March 16, 2009.
This legislation extends the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 until July 31, 2009. This bill is a simple extension and does not make any funding or programmatic changes.
Congress passed several short-term Small Business Administration (SBA) reauthorizations in the 110th Congress, which were signed into law by President Bush. The most recent extension of authorization for various SBA programs is scheduled to expire on Friday, March 20, 2009. That legislation, S. 3029, was passed by voice vote in the House in 2008.
The SBA was created in 1953 to aid, counsel, and assist small businesses. The SBA operates various programs and maintans a current business loan portfolio of roughly 220,000 loans worth more than $50 billion, which makes it the largest single financial backer of U.S. businesses.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not yet produced a cost estimate for this bill.
