7(a) Real Estate Appraisal Harmonization Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6347) to adjust the real estate appraisal thresholds under the 7(a) program to bring them into line with the thresholds used by the Federal banking regulators, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, similar to the SBA's 504/CDC loan program, the SBA's 7(a) loan program assists small businesses that have a business plan in place for success but do not have the ability to obtain credit elsewhere. Through a partnership with financial institutions, the SBA provides a government guarantee to help the small business grow and create jobs. Importantly, this program has been running on zero cost to the American taxpayers for years.

While the economy has been improving, conflicting Federal rules and regulations often present uncertainty and confusion for small businesses and those within the 7(a) loan program.

When an SBA 7(a) loan is used in a commercial real estate transaction, a formal State licensed or certified appraisal is statutorily required on all transactions above $250,000. However, the value set by Federal financial regulators has recently been increased from $250,000 to $500,000. To provide clarity for small businesses, H.R. 6347 modernizes and mirrors the SBA's commercial real estate appraisal threshold with the value set by Federal financial regulators.

Similar to H.R. 6348, H.R. 6347 does not provide an exact dollar threshold. Rather, it ties the SBA's 7(a) threshold to the value set by Federal financial regulators. This benchmark provision will prevent conflict as the threshold value is updated in the future.

I would like to thank Mr. Evans and Mr. Curtis for working in a bipartisan manner to find a solution to this problem that is impacting small businesses. The bill has broad bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6347, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans) for his leadership on this bill.

Small businesses do not employ an army of tax and accounting specialists. All too often, the small business owner must sacrifice time and energy away from growing his or her business to comply with Federal rules and regulations. While we are making progress on reducing regulations, at times, Federal rules conflict.

As we have heard today, H.R. 6347 aims to reduce the confusion that exists for small businesses that utilize the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program when it comes to the commercial real estate appraisal threshold.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan updates proposed in this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6347, the 7(a) Real Estate Harmonization Act, which updates SBA's outdated real estate appraisal threshold for the 7(a) loan guarantee program.

The 7(a) loan program, the SBA's flagship lending product, is a vital source of capital for thousands of small businesses unable to secure financing through traditional lending. Today's bill brings the 7(a) program's real estate appraisal threshold in line with other Federal banking regulators, namely the Fed, OCC, and FDIC. In doing so, it eliminates the burden lenders currently face in having to meet two different standards. I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans) for his leadership on this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this bipartisan piece of legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans), who is the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

This past spring, Federal banking regulators updated their threshold level for when a State licensed or certified appraisal is required, raising it to $500,000. In order to remain consistent with the rest of the market, SBA's levels should match the market. This bill does this by harmonizing the real estate appraisal threshold for the SBA's 7(a) program with the rest of the marketplace.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their support of this bill.

As I mentioned earlier, this bill is important for modernization and moving toward the future. In the city of Philadelphia, we have a lot of opportunities. It is most important that we rise in competitiveness from where we are today. As the ranking member has stated very clearly, this again just makes the opportunities more competitive.

I think it is most important in this environment today that we are sensitive to small businesses because they are the backbone of our future. It is important to understand that in a city like Philadelphia, which has 26 percent poverty--one of the largest major cities in this country--we need to add this to the toolbox. The importance of growing businesses, particularly small businesses, is extremely important to us all.

So I stand here today and join with my colleagues and ask that we support this legislation that will be very important in the toolbox of small businesses.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Small Business Committee be discharged and that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: H.R. 6347 and

I ask unanimous consent that the bills, en bloc, be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate.

I ask unanimous consent that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.