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PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES SMALL BUSINESS LENDING PLAN LONG ADVOCATED BY CONGRESSMAN PETERS

02/02/10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 2, 2010

                                              
CONTACT: Cullen Schwarz
Office: (202) 225-5802

                                                                                              

PRESIDENT OBAMA ANNOUNCES SMALL BUSINESS LENDING PLAN LONG ADVOCATED BY CONGRESSMAN PETERS

President Outlines Details of Plan Today in New Hampshire

Washington, D.C. – President Barack Obama today will hold a town hall meeting in New Hampshire where he will outline a proposal like that advocated by Congressman Gary Peters to reallocate TARP funding to a new program to support small business lending.  The “Small Business Lending Fund” will target community and smaller banks that lend the most to small businesses.  (Click here to view a fact sheet on the plan President Obama announced today.)  Congressman Peters has long been an advocate of using TARP (a.k.a. “Wall Street bailout”) funds to promote small business lending by providing more access to capital for small community banks. 

“I am extremely pleased the president has joined me in supporting action to redirect funding from the Wall Street bailout to support small businesses in Michigan communities,” said Congressman Peters.  “Business owners tell me that lack of access to credit is one of the largest impediments to creating jobs in Michigan.  Large banks have admitted they are not lending much to Michigan businesses, especially manufacturers, so unlocking capital for Michigan community banks is a must to produce the environment necessary for small businesses to grow and create jobs.” 

In December of last year, Congressman Peters outlined his plan to redirect $40 billion in unspent or repaid TARP funds to leverage additional lending from small community banks for small businesses (Click here for more information on Rep. Peters’ plan). 

In November, Congressman Peters convened a field hearing of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in Michigan to hear directly from small businesses and community banks about the need to spur small business lending and strategies for doing so.  (Click here for more information on that hearing). 

Following November’s field hearing, Congressman Peters authored a letter signed onto by other Members of Congress calling for the Treasury Department to undertake two solutions advocated by witnesses at the hearing: reducing the liability for lenders to manufacturing companies and partnering with community banks to spur small business lending.  (Click here to view that letter).

In September, Congressman Peters published an op-ed in The Hill on the need to use TARP funding to spur more small business lending through community banks (click here to read that op-ed). 

Congressman Peters has been a strong advocate for other measures to support small business lending: 

In October, the House passed an amendment authored by Congressman Peters to expand zero interest loans for existing small businesses in high unemployment states, and expand access to grants and a business investment tax credit designed for low-income areas to high unemployment areas as well.  (Click here for more information on this amendment).

Congressman Peters, Congressman Sander Levin and Congressman John Dingell will soon introduce legislation to give states the resources to partner with financial institutions to directly address the cash flow and collateral problems that are preventing too many manufacturers from accessing credit.  (Click here for more information on that legislation).

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