II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2869 

To increase loan limits for small business concerns, to provide for low interest 

refinancing for small business concerns, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2009 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To increase loan limits for small business concerns, to provide for low interest refinancing for small business concerns, and for other purposes. 

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 Job 

5 Creation and Access to Capital Act of 2009’’. 


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1 TITLE I—NEXT STEPS FOR MAIN 

2 STREET CREDIT AVAILABILITY 

3 SEC. 101. SECTION 7(a) BUSINESS LOANS. 

4 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 7(a) of the Small Busi5 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

7 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘75 percent’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘90 percent’’; and 

9 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘85 percent’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘90 percent’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

12 ‘‘$1,500,000 (or if the gross loan amount would ex13 ceed $2,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,500,000 (or if 

14 the gross loan amount would exceed $5,000,000’’. 

15 (b) PROSPECTIVE REPEAL.—Effective January 1, 

16 2011, section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 636(a)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

19 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘75 percent’’; and 

21 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘85 percent’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

24 ‘‘$4,500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$3,750,000’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. MAXIMUM LOAN AMOUNTS UNDER 504 PROGRAM. 

2 Section 502(2)(A) of the Small Business Investment 

3 Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 696(2)(A)) is amended— 

4 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘$1,500,000’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘$5,000,000’’; 

6 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘$5,000,000’’; 

8 (3) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘$4,000,000’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘$5,500,000’’; 

10 (4) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘$4,000,000’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘$5,500,000’’; and 

12 (5) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘$4,000,000’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘$5,500,000’’. 

14 SEC. 103. MAXIMUM LOAN LIMITS UNDER MICROLOAN PRO15 GRAM. 

16 Section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

17 636(m)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(iii), by striking 

19 ‘‘$35,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000’’; 

20 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

22 ‘‘$3,500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000,000’’; and 

23 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

24 ‘‘$35,000’’ each place that term appears and 

25 inserting ‘‘$50,000’’; and 


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1 (3) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking 

2 ‘‘$35,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000’’. 

3 SEC. 104. TEMPORARY FEE REDUCTIONS. 

4 Section 501 of the American Recovery and Reinvest5 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 151) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2010’’ each place 

7 that term appears and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2010’’. 

8 SEC. 105. NEW MARKETS VENTURE CAPITAL COMPANY IN9 VESTMENT LIMITATIONS. 

10 Section 355 of the Small Business Investment Act 

11 of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689d) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following: 

13 ‘‘(e) INVESTMENT LIMITATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

15 ‘covered New Markets Venture Capital company’ 

16 means a New Markets Venture Capital company— 

17 ‘‘(A) granted final approval by the Admin18 istrator under section 354(e) on or after March 

19 1, 2002; and 

20 ‘‘(B) that has obtained a financing from 

21 the Administrator. 

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Except to the extent ap23 proved by the Administrator, a covered New Markets 

24 Venture Capital company may not acquire or issue 

25 commitments for securities under this title for any 


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1 single enterprise in an aggregate amount equal to 

2 more than 10 percent of the sum of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the regulatory capital of the covered 

4 New Markets Venture Capital company; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the total amount of leverage pro6 jected in the participation agreement of the cov7 ered New Markets Venture Capital.’’. 

8 SEC. 106. ALTERNATIVE SIZE STANDARDS. 

9 Section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 632(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(5) ALTERNATIVE SIZE STANDARD.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

13 establish an alternative size standard for applicants 

14 for business loans under section 7(a) and applicants 

15 for development company loans under title V of the 

16 Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

17 695 et seq.), that uses maximum tangible net worth 

18 and average net income as an alternative to the use 

19 of industry standards. 

20 ‘‘(B) INTERIM RULE.—Until the date on which 

21 the alternative size standard established under sub22 paragraph (A) is in effect, an applicant for a busi23 ness loan under section 7(a) or an applicant for a 

24 development company loan under title V of the 


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1 Small Business Investment Act of 1958 may be eli2 gible for such a loan if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the maximum tangible net worth of 

4 the applicant is not more than $15,000,000; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the average net income after Federal 

7 income taxes (excluding any carry-over losses) 

8 of the applicant for the 2 full fiscal years before 

9 the date of the application is not more than 

10 $5,000,000.’’. 

11 SEC. 107. SALE OF 7(a) LOANS IN SECONDARY MARKET. 

12 Section 5(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 634(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(6) If the amount of the guaranteed portion of any 

15 loan under section 7(a) is more than $500,000, the Ad16 ministrator shall, upon request of a pool assembler, divide 

17 the loan guarantee into increments of $500,000 and 1 in18 crement of any remaining amount less than $500,000, in 

19 order to permit the maximum amount of any loan in a 

20 pool to be not more than $500,000. Only 1 increment of 

21 any loan guarantee divided under this paragraph may be 

22 included in the same pool. Increments of loan guarantees 

23 to different borrowers that are divided under this para24 graph may be included in the same pool.’’. 


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1 SEC. 108. ONLINE LENDING PLATFORM. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 

3 of the Small Business Administration should establish a 

4 website that— 

5 (1) lists each lender that makes loans guaran6 teed by the Small Business Administration and pro7 vides information about the loan rates of each such 

8 lender; and 

9 (2) allows prospective borrowers to compare 

10 rates on loans guaranteed by the Small Business 

11 Administration. 

12 TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS 

13 ACCESS TO CAPITAL 

14 SEC. 202. LOW-INTEREST REFINANCING UNDER THE LOCAL 

15 DEVELOPMENT BUSINESS LOAN PROGRAM. 

16 (a) REFINANCING.—Section 502(7) of the Small 

17 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 696(7)) is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(C) REFINANCING NOT INVOLVING EX20 PANSIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara22 graph— 

23 ‘‘(I) the term ‘borrower’ means a 

24 small business concern that submits 

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1 pany for financing under this sub2 paragraph; 

3 ‘‘(II) the term ‘eligible fixed 

4 asset’ means tangible property relat5 ing to which the Administrator may 

6 provide financing under this section; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(III) the term ‘qualified debt’ 

9 means indebtedness— 

10 ‘‘(aa) that— 

11 ‘‘(AA) was incurred not 

12 less than 2 years before the 

13 date of the application for 

14 assistance under this sub15 paragraph; 

16 ‘‘(BB) is a commercial 

17 loan; 

18 ‘‘(CC) is not subject to 

19 a guarantee by a Federal 

20 agency; 

21 ‘‘(DD) the proceeds of 

22 which were used to acquire 

23 an eligible fixed asset; 


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1 ‘‘(EE) was incurred for 

2 the benefit of the small busi3 ness concern; and 

4 ‘‘(FF) is collateralized 

5 by eligible fixed assets; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) for which the borrower 

7 has been current on all payments 

8 for not less than 1 year before 

9 the date of the application. 

10 ‘‘(ii) AUTHORITY.—A project that 

11 does not involve the expansion of a small 

12 business concern may include the refi13 nancing of qualified debt if— 

14 ‘‘(I) the amount of the financing 

15 is not more than 80 percent of the 

16 value of the collateral for the financ17 ing, except that, if the appraised value 

18 of the eligible fixed assets serving as 

19 collateral for the financing is less than 

20 the amount equal to 125 percent of 

21 the amount of the financing, the bor22 rower may provide additional cash or 

23 other collateral to eliminate any defi24 ciency; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the borrower has been in 

2 operation for all of the 2-year period 

3 ending on the date of the loan; and 

4 ‘‘(III) for a financing for which 

5 the Administrator determines there 

6 will be an additional cost attributable 

7 to the refinancing of the qualified 

8 debt, the borrower agrees to pay a fee 

9 in an amount equal to the anticipated 

10 additional cost. 

11 ‘‘(iii) FINANCING FOR BUSINESS EX12 PENSES.— 

13 ‘‘(I) FINANCING FOR BUSINESS

14 EXPENSES.—The Administrator may 

15 provide financing to a borrower that 

16 receives financing that includes a refi17 nancing of qualified debt under clause 

18 (ii), in addition to the refinancing 

19 under clause (ii), to be used solely for 

20 the payment of business expenses. 

21 ‘‘(II) APPLICATION FOR FINANC22 ING.—An application for financing 

23 under subclause (I) shall include— 

24 ‘‘(aa) a specific description 

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1 ditional financing is requested; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(bb) an itemization of the 

4 amount of each expense. 

5 ‘‘(III) CONDITION ON ADDI6 TIONAL FINANCING.—A borrower may 

7 not use any part of the financing 

8 under this clause for non-business 

9 purposes. 

10 ‘‘(iv) LOANS BASED ON JOBS.— 

11 ‘‘(I) JOB CREATION AND RETEN12 TION GOALS.— 

13 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 

14 Administrator may provide fi15 nancing under this subparagraph 

16 for a borrower that meets the job 

17 creation goals under subsection 

18 (d) or (e) of section 501. 

19 ‘‘(bb) ALTERNATE JOB RE20 TENTION GOAL.—The Adminis21 trator may provide financing 

22 under this subparagraph to a 

23 borrower that does not meet the 

24 goals described in item (aa) in an 

25 amount that is not more than the 


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1 product obtained by multiplying 

2 the number of employees of the 

3 borrower by $65,000. 

4 ‘‘(II) NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES.— 

5 For purposes of subclause (I), the 

6 number of employees of a borrower is 

7 equal to the sum of— 

8 ‘‘(aa) the number of full9 time employees of the borrower 

10 on the date on which the bor11 rower applies for a loan under 

12 this subparagraph; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) the product obtained 

14 by multiplying— 

15 ‘‘(AA) the number of 

16 part-time employees of the 

17 borrower on the date on 

18 which the borrower applies 

19 for a loan under this sub20 paragraph; by 

21 ‘‘(BB) the quotient ob22 tained by dividing the aver23 age number of hours each 

24 part time employee of the 


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1 borrower works each week 

2 by 40. 

3 ‘‘(v) NONDELEGATION.—Notwith4 standing section 508(e), the Administrator 

5 may not permit a premier certified lender 

6 to approve or disapprove an application for 

7 assistance under this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(vi) TOTAL AMOUNT OF LOANS.— 

9 The Administrator may provide not more 

10 than a total of $4,000,000,000 of financ11 ing under this subparagraph for each fiscal 

12 year.’’. 

13 (b) PROSPECTIVE REPEAL.—Effective 2 years after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, section 502(7) of the 

15 Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

16 696(7)) is amended by striking subparagraph (C). 

17 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 502(2)(A)(i) 

18 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 

19 696(2)(A)(i)) is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B) 

20 or (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)’’. 

Æ 


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