II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2780 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a small business intermediary 

lending pilot program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2009 

Mr. LEVIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a small 

business intermediary lending pilot program. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Inter5 mediary Lending Pilot Program Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS INTERMEDIARY LENDING PILOT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7 of the Small Business 

9 Act is amended by striking subsection (l) and inserting 

10 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(l) SMALL BUSINESS INTERMEDIARY LENDING

2 PILOT PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible intermediary’— 

5 ‘‘(i) means a private, nonprofit entity 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(I) seeks or has been awarded a 

8 loan from the Administrator to make 

9 loans to small business concerns 

10 under this subsection; and 

11 ‘‘(II) has not less than 1 year of 

12 experience making loans to startup, 

13 newly established, or growing small 

14 business concerns; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) includes— 

16 ‘‘(I) a private, nonprofit commu17 nity development corporation; 

18 ‘‘(II) a consortium of private, 

19 nonprofit organizations or nonprofit 

20 community development corporations; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(III) an agency of or nonprofit 

23 entity established by a Native Amer24 ican Tribal Government; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Program’ means the small 

2 business intermediary lending pilot program es3 tablished under paragraph (2). 

4 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 

5 3-year small business intermediary lending pilot pro6 gram, under which the Administrator may make di7 rect loans to eligible intermediaries, for the purpose 

8 of making loans to startup, newly established, and 

9 growing small business concerns. 

10 ‘‘(3) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Program 

11 are— 

12 ‘‘(A) to assist small business concerns in 

13 areas suffering from a lack of credit due to 

14 poor economic conditions or changes in the fi15 nancial market; and 

16 ‘‘(B) to establish a loan program under 

17 which the Administrator may provide loans to 

18 eligible intermediaries to enable the eligible 

19 intermediaries to provide loans to startup, 

20 newly established, and growing small business 

21 concerns for working capital, real estate, or the 

22 acquisition of materials, supplies, or equipment. 

23 ‘‘(4) LOANS TO ELIGIBLE INTERMEDIARIES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—Each eligible inter25 mediary desiring a loan under this subsection 


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1 shall submit an application to the Adminis2 trator that describes— 

3 ‘‘(i) the type of small business con4 cerns to be assisted; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the size and range of loans to be 

6 made; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the interest rate and terms of 

8 loans to be made; 

9 ‘‘(iv) the geographic area to be served 

10 and the economic, poverty, and unemploy11 ment characteristics of the area; 

12 ‘‘(v) the status of small business con13 cerns in the area to be served and an anal14 ysis of the availability of credit; and 

15 ‘‘(vi) the qualifications of the appli16 cant to carry out this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) LOAN LIMITS.—No loan may be 

18 made to an eligible intermediary under this sub19 section if the total amount outstanding and 

20 committed to the eligible intermediary by the 

21 Administrator would, as a result of such loan, 

22 exceed $3,000,000 during the participation of 

23 the eligible intermediary in the Program. 


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1 ‘‘(C) LOAN DURATION.—Loans made by 

2 the Administrator under this subsection shall be 

3 for a term of 20 years. 

4 ‘‘(D) APPLICABLE INTEREST RATES.— 

5 Loans made by the Administrator to an eligible 

6 intermediary under the Program shall bear an 

7 annual interest rate equal to 1.00 percent. 

8 ‘‘(E) FEES; COLLATERAL.—The Adminis9 trator may not charge any fees or require col10 lateral with respect to any loan made to an eli11 gible intermediary under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(F) DELAYED PAYMENTS.—The Adminis13 trator shall not require the repayment of prin14 cipal or interest on a loan made to an eligible 

15 intermediary under the Program during the 2- 

16 year period beginning on the date of the initial 

17 disbursement of funds under that loan. 

18 ‘‘(G) MAXIMUM PARTICIPANTS AND

19 AMOUNTS.—During each of fiscal years 2010, 

20 2011, and 2012, the Administrator may make 

21 loans under the Program— 

22 ‘‘(i) to not more than 20 eligible inter23 mediaries; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) in a total amount of not more 

25 than $60,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(5) LOANS TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

3 through an eligible intermediary, shall make 

4 loans to startup, newly established, and growing 

5 small business concerns for working capital, 

6 real estate, and the acquisition of materials, 

7 supplies, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. 

8 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM LOAN.—An eligible inter9 mediary may not make a loan under this sub10 section of more than $200,000 to any 1 small 

11 business concern. 

12 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE INTEREST RATES.—A 

13 loan made by an eligible intermediary to a small 

14 business concern under this subsection, may 

15 have a fixed or a variable interest rate, and 

16 shall bear an interest rate specified by the eligi17 ble intermediary in the application of the eligi18 ble intermediary for a loan under this sub19 section. 

20 ‘‘(D) REVIEW RESTRICTIONS.—The Ad21 ministrator may not review individual loans 

22 made by an eligible intermediary to a small 

23 business concern before approval of the loan by 

24 the eligible intermediary. 


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1 ‘‘(6) TERMINATION.—The authority of the Ad2 ministrator to make loans under the Program shall 

3 terminate 3 years after the date of enactment of the 

4 Small Business Intermediary Lending Pilot Program 

5 Act of 2009.’’. 

6 (b) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis8 trator shall issue regulations to carry out section 7(l) of 

9 the Small Business Act, as amended by subsection (a). 

10 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any amounts pro11 vided to the Administrator for the purposes of carrying 

12 out section 7(l) of the Small Business Act, as amended 

13 by subsection (a), shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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