Congress Pushing Small Business Relief
By Sarah Sparks
WASHINGTON – Congress this month has moved to establish federal relief funds for small businesses shaken by the economic slowdown and the recent terrorist attacks.
“Small businesses in America are among the first to feel the pain when economic disaster strikes,” said U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., in introducing the American Small Business Emergency Relief and Recovery Act, one of several small-business aid bills moving through Congress.”But that also means that they are central to the re-birth of a strong and vibrant national economy.”
Kerry’s bill and its companion House legislation, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo, R-Ill. and Jim Moran, D-Va., would expand the Small Business Administration’s loan and management counseling programs for small businesses affected by the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath.
Both bills would provide loans with a two-year zero-interest deferred payment and subsequent payments with interest of no more than 1 percent above the prime lending rate. They would also allow refinancing of existing loans. Any small business directly or indirectly harmed by the attacks would be eligible to apply for the loans from the time the bill is enacted until Sept. 10, 2002.
Eight House and 44 Senate members, including Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., have co-sponsored the bills. The Senate bill, S. 1499, has been placed on the legislative calendar for this month. The House bill, H.R. 3073, has been referred to the House Small Business Committee for review.
U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, D-R.I., opposes H.R. 3073 because he feels it does not do enough to increase start-up programs, according to press secretary Michael Guilfoyle. He supports H.R. 3011, the Small Business Emergency Relief Act, which he says gives more aid to businesses outside the immediate disaster area.
The bill would fund loans through the Small Business Administration for property and personal damage, as well as “any economic injury” according to the bill’s text. Interest on the loans could not exceed 4 percent per year.
“Small business will continue to be the backbone of the Rhode Island economy,” Guilfoyle said.
Normand Deragon, spokesman for the R.I. district office of the Small Business Administration, agreed that small businesses are vital. According to the 2001 Small Business Administration profile, 96.8 percent of Rhode Island’s 32,666 employing businesses are small, with 500 or fewer employees. Non-farm small businesses earned $1.8 billion in income last year.
“Anything Congress can do to help small business, we appreciate,” Deragon said. “That’s our purpose in life.”
