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U.S. House Approves Extension of SBA Programs through Early 2007
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
(WASHINGTON) The U.S. House voted late Tuesday to temporarily extend the programs of the U.S. Small Business Administration until February 2, 2007 to give Congress more time to complete a comprehensive review and reauthorization of the agency. H.R. 6159, authored by House Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-IL), extends all the programs (including pilot programs) and authorities of the SBA beyond the current expiration date of September 30, 2006 until February 2, 2007. This extension is necessary because several programs at the SBA are not supported by direct appropriations; therefore, the general language in a Continuing Resolution does not provide the full legal authority for the SBA to continue these programs, which include the 7(a), Certified Development Company (CDC), and Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) programs. In addition, H.R. 6159 would extend the authority of the SBA to operate several smaller programs including grants to Small Business Development Centers to participate in the Drug-Free Workplace program; sustainability funding for Women Business Centers; the pre-disaster mitigation pilot program; the New Markets Venture Capital program; and BusinessLinc. It would also extend SBA’s co-sponsorship and gift authority, which enables the SBA to accept private donations to help put on events or print publications, thus saving the taxpayer precious dollars. “This temporary extension is necessary to give us more time to complete a more comprehensive reauthorization of the SBA,” Manzullo said. “We are still working on a package that would improve the SBA’s response to catastrophic disasters and expand the reach of the SBA’s finance and entrepreneurship programs to more small businesses in America. We will also eliminate unnecessary programs at the SBA and combat waste, fraud and abuse by increasing fines for misuse of SBA programs.” (END)
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