Schock Small Business Amendments Pass the House
Amendments will speed up the establishment of the Renewable Energy Capital Investment Program and increase the certainty that banks will get paid on loans
Washington,
Oct 29 -
Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) offered two amendments today to H.R. 3854, the Small Business Financing and Investment Act, which passed the House unanimously.
The first Schock amendment will require quarterly progress reports from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator to Congress regarding the newly overhauled Renewable Energy Capital Investment Program until such a time that the program is up and running.
“Last month, Dr. Peter Johnsen testified before my Subcommittee on the difficulty he was having in finding capital investments or loans for the further development of the crop known as Pennycress, a winter cover crop which yields potentially as much as 115 gallons of biodiesel per acre as compared to 59 gallons from traditional soy-based diesel,” said Schock. “When operating at full potential, the Renewable Energy Capital Investment Program, with its matching grant contributions, would be of great assistance to agricultural entrepreneurs like Dr. Johnsen.”
“By establishing metrics for establishing this program, we will help ensure small businesses get equal opportunity to participate in the effort to make our country become more energy efficient while also establishing new renewable fuel sources,” Schock continued.
The second amendment offered by Congressman Schock will require the SBA Administrator to pay on claims for any lender who can show they followed the prescribed training in the National Lender Training Program. If the SBA refuses to pay they must have clear and convincing evidence that the lender failed to follow such training.
“It is no secret that one of the greatest disappointments my colleagues and I on this side of the aisle had in the so-called stimulus legislation was that it did not do enough for small businesses,” said Schock. “This amendment will help small businesses by ensuring the SBA will pay out on a guarantee to any lender who can demonstrate that they followed the prescribed training under the National Lender Training Program. With this type of assurance of lender compensation for SBA guaranteed loans in default, banks across this country will be more likely to lend to small businesses; ultimately helping to loosen credit markets, get capital flowing again and put people back to work.”
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