WASHINGTON—The Senate has passed the Small Business 7(a) Lending Oversight Reform Act (HR 4743), which increases the Small Business Administration's (SBA) oversight authority over the program.
The House passed the bill in May; it now heads to the president, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
"NAFCU and our member credit unions thank Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chairman [Jim] Risch and Ranking Member [Jeanne] Shaheen, and House Small Business Committee Chairman [Steve] Chabot and Ranking Member [Nydia] Velázquez for their bipartisan work to strengthen the SBA's 7(a) loan program," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "This program is critical to credit unions' ability to provide loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs in their communities, which is an integral part of the industry."
SBA Administrator Linda McMahon recently testified before the Senate Small Business Committee and noted the importance of strengthening the 7(a) program. In addition, during testimony before the House Small Business Committee in January, NAFCU witness Sonya McDonald outlined improvements to the SBA's 7(a) program – including HR 4743.
NAFCU noted that it has closely worked with the SBA to increase the number of credit unions offering SBA 7(a) loans. At NAFCU's 2017 Congressional Caucus, Berger signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with McMahon aimed at improving access to credit union small-dollar loans to small businesses across the nation.