H.R. 1915House115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

To amend the Small Business Act to provide the Administrator of the Small Business Administration authority to increase amount for general business loans, and for other purposes.

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 2:32 PM UTC

This bill changes the Small Business Act to give the Small Business Administration’s Administrator the power to increase the amount of general business loans it can commit, up to 120% of the current limit, when demand is higher than expected. The Administrator must inform and obtain approval from the Senate and House Appropriations Committees before using this extra authority. The amendment also renames an existing subsection of the law.

Key Provisions

Allows the SBA Administrator to raise the total amount of general business loan commitments to up to 120% of the existing statutory limit for FY 2018 and future years, if demand exceeds the limit.
Requires the Administrator to notify the Senate and House Appropriations Committees (and the Small Business Committees) at least 30 days before using this authority.
The loan‑increase authority can only be used after both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees approve the Administrator’s request.
Re‑labels the existing subsection (j) of Section 20 of the Small Business Act as subsection (f).

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.

Small Business Committee

April 5, 2017

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

April 5, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.

Small Business Committee

April 5, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued April 5, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1915

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 5, 2017

Ms. Velázquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to provide the Administrator of the Small Business Administration authority to increase amount for general business loans, and for other purposes.

Authority for Administrator to increase amount for general business loans

Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended—

(1)

by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (f); and

(2)

by adding at the end the following new subsection:

(g)

Authority To increase amount of general business loans

(1)

In general

For fiscal year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, if the Administrator determines that the amount of commitments by the Administrator for general business loans authorized under section 7(a) for a fiscal year exceeds the limit on the total amount of commitments the Administrator may make for such loans under this Act, appropriation Acts, or any other provision of law, the Administrator may make commitments for such loans for such fiscal year in total amount equal to not more than 120 percent of such limit.

(2)

Approval required before exercising authority

(A)

In general

Not later than 30 days before the date on which the Administrator intends to exercise the authority under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall submit notice of the intent of the Administrator to exercise the authority to—

(i)

the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(ii)

the Committee on Small Business and the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(B)

Approval

The Administrator may not exercise the authority under paragraph (1) unless the exercise of authority has been approved by the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.