Proposal to raise SBA Express cap to $1 million would provide boost for entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs got a boost this week with a proposal by President Obama to temporarily increase the cap on SBA Express loans from $350,000 to $1 million, which would expand the program’s ability to help a broad range of small businesses through a streamlined approval process. Unlike traditional 7(a) SBA loans, lenders can use their own paperwork for SBA Express loans, which can be structured as revolving lines of credit. Currently, these Express loans are capped at $350,000 and carry a 50 percent guarantee. 

Other elements of the small business agenda proposed this week include: 

• Extending small business expensing and bonus depreciation for 2010
• Eliminating capital gains taxes for small businesses in 2010
• A Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Credit that would cut taxes for more than 1 million small businesses by paying up to $5,000 for every net new job and covers payroll taxes on overall wage increases in excess of inflation
• A proposal to transfer, through legislation, $30 billion to a new Small Business Lending Fund that will support lending by community and smaller banks
• Additional SBA lending proposals, including an extension of the Recovery Act programs that eliminate fees and raise guarantees on SBA’s two largest loan programs and permanent increases in the maximum loan sizes for major SBA programs

 For more information:  http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/sba_rcvry_factsheet_cre_refi.pdf