Contact:
Molly Brogan
202-552-2904
Washington, D.C. – NSBA is pleased that the administration has provided some details to the TARP proposal—something the organization has been calling for sine early 2009. With 39 percent of NSBA’s members recently reporting an inability to garner adequate financing for their businesses, and the majority projecting some kind of growth in the coming year, this program could provide a critical bridge between economic hardships and future growth.
NSBA supports the efforts to remove some of the key hurdles to this program, namely the restrictions on banks that accept TARP funds. Funneling the program through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)—an entity many banks are already working with—will likely help expedite the program.
Although NSBA can see the need for legislation to create the most beneficial program possible, this process cannot be bogged-down like so many other legislative initiatives. Congress must act quickly—it should not take another year to implement this program.
NSBA is supportive of the incentives for small-business lending included in the proposal. Specifically, lowering the dividend payments community banks must make based on how much they increase their base-level small-business lending is a good way to ensure these funds actually do flow through to small businesses.
NSBA can’t stress enough the need to get this program off the ground quickly, and looks forward to working with the administration and Congress in moving forward.
Since 1937, NSBA has advocated on behalf of America's entrepreneurs. A staunchly nonpartisan organization, NSBA reaches more than 150,000 small businesses nationwide with members as diverse as the economy they fuel. For more information, please visit www.nsba.biz.
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