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FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP ON 

VIEWS AND ESTIMATES OF THE SBA BUDGET 

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

MARCH 11, 2009 

Small Business Committee Document Number 111-009 

Available via the GPO Website: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house 


Congress.#13
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

NYDIA M. VELA ́ ZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman 

DENNIS MOORE, Kansas 

HEATH SHULER, North Carolina 

KATHY DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania 

KURT SCHRADER, Oregon 

ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona 

GLENN NYE, Virginia 

MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine 

MELISSA BEAN, Illinois 

DAN LIPINSKI, Illinois 

JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania 

YVETTE CLARKE, New York 

BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana 

JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania 

BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama 

PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama 

DEBORAH HALVORSON, Illinois 

SAM GRAVES, Missouri, Ranking Member 

ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland 

W. TODD AKIN, Missouri 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia 

LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas 

MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma 

VERN BUCHANAN, Florida 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri 

AARON SCHOCK, Illinois 

GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

MICHAEL DAY, Majority Staff Director 

ADAM MINEHARDT, Deputy Staff Director 

TIM SLATTERY, Chief Counsel 

KAREN HAAS, Minority Staff Director 

(II) 

STANDING SUBCOMMITTEES 

Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology 

GLENN NYE, Virginia, Chairman 

YVETTE CLARKE, New York 

BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana 

KURT SCHRADER, Oregon 

DEBORAH HALVORSON, Illinois 

MELISSA BEAN, Illinois 

JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania 

PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama 

AARON SCHOCK, Illinois, Ranking 

ROSCOE BARTLETT, Maryland 

TODD AKIN, Missouri 

MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma 

GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania 

Subcommittee on Finance and Tax 

KURT SCHRADER, Oregon, Chairman 

DENNIS MOORE, Kansas 

ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona 

MELISSA BEAN, Illinois 

JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania 

DEBORAH HALVORSON, Illinois 

GLENN NYE, Virginia 

MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine 

VERN BUCHANAN, Florida, Ranking 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

TODD AKIN, Missouri 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight 

JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania, Chairman 

HEATH SHULER, North Carolina 

BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana 

PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama 

MARY FALLIN, Oklahoma, Ranking 

LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas 

(III) 

Subcommittee on Regulations and Healthcare 

KATHY DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania, Chairwoman 

DAN LIPINSKI, Illinois 

PARKER GRIFFITH, Alabama 

MELISSA BEAN, Illinois 

JASON ALTMIRE, Pennsylvania 

JOE SESTAK, Pennsylvania 

BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama 

LYNN WESTMORELAND, Georgia, Ranking 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

VERN BUCHANAN, Florida 

GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship and Trade 

HEATH SHULER, Pennsylvania, Chairman 

MICHAEL MICHAUD, Maine 

BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama 

KATHY DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania 

ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona 

YVETTE CLARKE, New York 

BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri, Ranking 

STEVE KING, Iowa 

AARON SCHOCK, Illinois 

GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania 

(IV) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Vela ́zquez, Hon. Nydia M. ....................................................................................... 1 

Graves, Hon. Sam .................................................................................................... 2 

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statements: 

Vela ́zquez, Hon. Nydia M. ....................................................................................... 4 

Graves, Hon. Sam .................................................................................................... 6 

Statements for the Record: 

A letter to the Honorable John M. Spratt, Chairman of the Budget ..................

Committee, expressing the views and estimates of the Small Business .............

Committee with regards to the fiscal year 2010 budget for the Small Business 

Administration ..................................................................................................... 8 

(V) 

(1) 

FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP ON 

VIEWS AND ESTIMATES OF THE SBA BUDGET 

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 

Wednesday, March 11, 2009 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 1:02 p.m., in Room 

2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Nydia M. Vela ́zquez 

[Chair of the Committee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Vela ́zquez, Moore, Schrader, Lipinski, 

Sestak, Halvorson, Graves, Bartlett, Westmoreland, Luetkemeyer, 

and Coffman. 

Chairwoman VELA ́ ZQUEZ. I am pleased to call this morning’s 

markup to order. 

Today, the Committee will consider its views and estimates of 

the Small Business Administration’s fiscal year 2010 budget. These 

resources mark a critical first step in helping entrepreneurs weather the recession and strengthen our weakened economy. 

Recognizing the vital role that small businesses play in economic 

recovery, the Committee proposes a budget of $1.43 billion, which 

is approximately what it was for the agency at the end of the Clinton administration. 

In the interest of being fiscally responsible, we are recommending that six underperforming programs be discontinued. 

Doing so will free up funds for more cost-effective, results-driven 

initiatives. It would also allow us to make the most of our budget, 

which will accomplish a great deal, not only by funding SBA’s core 

programs but by continuing the fee reductions contained within the 

Recovery Act. 

Entrepreneurs everywhere have been affected by restricted lending and tightening credit. Our budget will soften those blows by 

leveraging more than $29 billion in loans and investment to small 

firms. It will also mark $1.1 billion in disaster assistance resources. 

Under the new Recovery Act, the Federal marketplace is more vibrant than ever before. It is critical that small businesses have a 

fair shot at winning stimulus contracts, and our budget will ensure 

that that happens. We will do this by directing nearly $70 million 

in funding for targeted contracting programs. A large part of that 

money will go towards bolstering procurement center representatives and commercial marketing representatives, both of which promote small business participation in the Federal marketplace. 

2 

It is no secret that our economy is struggling. But with a renewed emphasis on entrepreneurial development, contracting initiatives, and small business lending, we can start turning it 

around. 

This is vital because entrepreneurs have a proven record of creating jobs and stemming recessions. Following the downturn of the 

mid-1990s, an overwhelming number of laid-off workers went on to 

start their own firms. This wave of entrepreneurship pumped billions of dollars into the economy. We can replicate that kind of 

growth today but not without increased resources for small business programs. 

The budget we are proposing will breathe new life into the SBA. 

More importantly, it will fully fund SBA’s ED programs, providing 

entrepreneurs with the resources they need to not only survive the 

recession but to get our economy moving again. I urge support of 

the Committee’s views and estimates. 

And I will now yield to Mr. Graves for any comments that he 

may have on them. 

Mr. GRAVES. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to thank you 

for holding this markup today on the Committee’s views and estimates of the President’s proposed Small Business Administration 

budget for fiscal year 2010. 

Normally this markup involves an assessment of the proposed 

budget for the Small Business Administration for the upcoming fiscal year. However, the information supplied to this Committee 

amounts to a page and a half of analysis, laying out the levels of 

loan guarantees that will be available in the 2010 fiscal year. 

This submission makes it impossible for this Committee to exercise its responsibility to advise the Budget Committee on the adequacy of the SBA’s budget. I am sure that all members of the Committee are displeased at the lack of information provided in the 

budget submission. 

Even the data provided isn’t useful. It simply adopts for the next 

fiscal year the overall guarantee levels for loans that the SBA will 

provide. Given the significant decrease in SBA lending activities, I 

find it difficult to believe that the goals set forth in the budget will 

be achieved. Nor does the submission explain how the agency will 

achieve the goals it has set forth for providing capital to America’s 

small businesses. 

Finally, the budget submission fails to explain how the SBA will 

provide assistance to small businesses that want to enter the Federal procurement arena, a component of the economy that appears 

to be set to continue to grow. 

In a time when small businesses are starved for capital, the proposed budget will increase the deficit and make small businesses 

compete against the Federal Government and larger businesses to 

obtain that capital. No business can compete with the ability of the 

Federal Government to obtain capital, and this will raise interest 

rates, effectively increasing costs for small businesses at just the 

wrong time. 

Compounding that problem is that, to sustain the increased Federal spending in the budget, revenue will have to rise, and that 

means tax increases on small businesses. While some of these may 

be cleverly hidden, such as caps on carbon emissions, they neverVerDate Aug 31 2005 11:30 Mar 25, 2009 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 G:\CLERKS~1\HEARINGS\TRANSC~1\47796.TXT DARIEN
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theless represent additional costs to small businesses and revenue 

diverted from business growth. 

Furthermore, the budget document misses an opportunity to directly address the needs of affordable health care for small businesses. Without affordable health care, businesses face the choice 

of not providing it or providing it and possibly bankrupting the 

firm because of cost of insurance. 

In conclusion, the little information provided in the budget submission raises troubling questions about the ability of small businesses to do their part to help America through the economic turmoil. And while I certainly respect the Chairwoman’s passion and 

devotion—incredible devotion to small businesses—I cannot concur 

with the proposed budget views. And I will be filing some separate 

estimates and views with the Budget Committee. 

Thank you. 

Chairwoman VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Thank you. 

Are there any other members that wish to go recognized on the 

views and estimates? 

The Committee now moves to consideration of the views and estimates of the Small Business Administration’s fiscal year 2010 

budget. 

The Clerk will report the title of the document. 

The CLERK. ′′A letter to the Honorable John M. Spratt, Chairman 

of the Budget Committee, expressing the views and estimates of 

the Small Business Committee with regards to the fiscal year 2010 

budget.′′ 

[The information is included in the appendix.] 

Chairwoman VELA ́ ZQUEZ. I ask unanimous consent that the 

views and estimates document, in its entirety, be open for amendments at this time. Does any member seek recognition for the purpose of offering an amendment? 

Seeing no amendments, the question is on agreeing to views and 

estimates. 

All those in favor, say, ′′Aye.′′ 

All those opposed, ′′No.′′ 

The ayes have it, and the views and estimates are agreed to. 

At this point, I would like to yield to Mr. Graves for a motion. 

Mr. GRAVES. Thanks, Madam Chair. 

I would move to allow the minority to file their own separate 

views. 

Chairwoman VELA ́ ZQUEZ. Without objection, so ordered. 

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee be authorized to 

correct punctuation and to make other necessary technical corrections on the document considered today. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

This markup is now adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 1:10 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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