New Report Card and Analysis Released On How the Biden-Harris Administration Has Ushered in Record New Business Formation

Today, in honor of National Small Business Week, President Biden is hosting small business award winners from all 50 states at the White House to celebrate their contributions to the dynamism and strength of the U.S. economy, and releasing a report card that highlights the small business boom taking hold as a result of the President’s small business agenda.

From distributing billions in pandemic assistance, to expanding access to capital and leveraging billions in federal dollars from the Investing in America agenda, this new report card lays out how the Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to support small businesses. Additionally, the Council of Economic Advisers is releasing a new analysis that identifies the potential benefits to small businesses from the hundreds of billions being invested through the President’s Investing in America agenda.

Americans filed nearly 10.5 million applications to start new businesses in 2021 and 2022, the two highest years on record for new business formation. Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, small businesses have created 3.1 million jobs, a near historic level. At the same time, the Biden-Harris Administration has increased enforcement against tax evasion by big corporations, and instituted a corporate minimum tax so that small businesses can fairly compete against big corporations with complex tax schemes that reduce their tax burden well below what small businesses pay.

Last week, as part of a reckless attempt to extract concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred, House Republicans passed a bill that would put this small business boom at risk. According to Moody’s Analytics, the bill would lead to 780,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2024 and would meaningfully increase the risk of recession.

Biden-Harris Investments and Reforms to Support Small Businesses
President Biden will host National Small Business Week award winners from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico at the White House and announce the following:

  • A new Small Business Report Card demonstrating across-the-board progress. Released in April 2022, the Biden-Harris Small Business Strategy laid out 35 initiatives designed to maintain the nation’s historic momentum in fostering new business creation. The report card shows significant progress on all 35 initiatives, including delivering billions of dollars in loans and support services.
  • New Small Business Administration (SBA) guidance strengthening more than 100 nonprofit, mission-driven lenders. The Community Advantage Pilot Program allows nonprofit lenders, with a proven track record of higher rates of lending to Black, Hispanic, women, and veteran-owned businesses, to make SBA-backed loans. A permanent license will provide these lenders with long-term certainty.
  • Applications will open in June 2023 for non-bank lenders applying for Small Business Lending Company (SBLC) licenses. Last month, SBA finalized a rule that will allow the agency to issue new SBLC licenses for the first time in 40 years. This change will expand competition in small business lending and address capital gaps by expanding loans to minority and rural small businesses.

House Republican Proposal Would Harm Small Businesses, Eliminate Jobs
Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans are holding the economy hostage by refusing to avoid default without slashing billions in funding for vital programs that support small businesses. Their bill would: 

  • Slash almost $2 billion from a vital small business initiative, reducing needed capital for up to 10,000 small businesses and support for 100,000 jobs. The Republican proposal would claw back up to $1.8 billion from Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, particularly harming small business loans and equity investments for tribal and other underserved entrepreneurs.
  • Force cuts to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and other federal supports for small business by 22 percent. This proposal would:
    • Exacerbate Access to Capital Gaps.  The Republican cuts would slow loan approvals, impede new lender registration, reduce lender oversight, and impede technology updates and customer service for small business applicants, forcing small businesses to seek more expensive non-SBA capital options.   
    • Eliminate free business counseling for 295,000 small businesses owners.
    • Delay certification and training to 15,000 or more small business contractors. Republican cuts would slow training and the review of certification applications, denying services to 15,000 or more businesses annually.
    • Let more pandemic fraudsters escape prosecution. The plan undermines the SBA Office of Inspector General’s ability to fight fraud, prosecute criminals, and recoup stolen relief funds by rescinding all balances for COVID oversight.
    • Abandon Businesses Recovering from Natural Disasters. SBA would have to reduce its disaster staff by nearly 50 positions, hurting SBA’s ability to respond quickly when a disaster strikes to ensure access to capital for disaster survivors.
  • Rescind up to $575 million in support for small businesses provided by Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions through the Emergency Capital Investment Program. These funds were designed to help these institutions provide support to small businesses in underserved communities.
  • Slash support for small businesses that export goods and services. The House Republican proposal would reduce support to more than 43,000 small businesses served by the International Trade Administration, including supporting-first time exporters, resolving unfair trade practices, and trade disputes. Small businesses would also have less access to State Trade Expansion Program funding provided by SBA to state and territory governments to support small business export development.
  • Reduce support for thousands of rural businesses.  The Republican proposal would cut funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Business Programs, resulting in more than 2,000 rural businesses—nearly all small businesses—losing access to this assistance. 

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