The Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate committees on small business today introduced an American Bankers Association-supported bill that would reform and strengthen the Small Business Administration’s popular 7(a) loan program. The bill would strengthen the SBA’s office of credit risk management; enhance the SBA’s lender oversight review process; require SBA to detail its oversight budget and perform a full annual risk analysis of the program; and clarify factors that must be considered under the “credit elsewhere” test that lenders perform before applying for 7(a) financing.
The bill was introduced by House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Ranking Member Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). ABA staff have met with the committees to provide feedback on legislative text.\
