News

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) reintroduced four bills aimed at better supporting small businesses by expanding underserved communities’ access to SBA loans, aiding small businesses in protecting themselves from disasters, and protecting U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) programs from foreign abuse. 

• “Our small businesses are the backbone of our communities and America’s strategic competitive advantage. The SBA is an important resource for them, and we must ensure that it provides the best possible assistance. By improving the assistance provided by the SBA, we can help small businesses thrive, create jobs, and contribute to our nation’s economic competitiveness.” – Senator Rubio

Below is a list of the four bills Rubio reintroduced. 

• Fair Access to Small Business Lending Act. First introduced in April 2021, this legislation would encourage small business growth in underserved communities by creating new pathways to obtain access to capital under the SBA’s 7(a) loan program.

• PREPARE Act. First introduced in September 2020, this legislation would reauthorize the SBA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Pilot Program to allow small businesses to take out low-interest loans for the purpose of proactively implementing mitigation measures to protect their property from future disaster-related damage.

• Small Business Credit Protection Act. First introduced in November 2018, this legislation would require credit bureaus to inform small businesses of a nonpublic personal data breach within 30 days. The bill would also prohibit credit bureaus from charging small businesses for a credit report within the 180 days following a breach.

• Preventing SBA Assistance from Going to China Act. First introduced in June 2018 and reintroduced with new provisions in March 2021, this legislation would block all assistance offered by the SBA from going to any small business headquartered in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or that has at least 25 percent of its voting stock in the hands of PRC investors.