Small Business ACE 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 move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6348) to adjust the real estate appraisal thresholds under the section 504 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 to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, the House Small Business Committee strives to create an environment where small businesses can thrive and create jobs. Unfortunately, small businesses are often hampered by conflicting Federal rules and regulations. This is the case when it comes to the appraisal threshold for commercial real estate.

Earlier this year, Federal financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, increased the commercial real estate appraisal threshold from $250,000 to $500,000. Unfortunately, the Small Business Administration's threshold for the real estate-heavy 504/CDC loan program is set in statute at $250,000. The conflicting numbers produce confusion for and burdens on small business owners and the organizations that strive to assist them.

H.R. 6348, the Small Business Access to Capital and Efficiency Act, also known as the Small Business ACE Act, modernizes and benchmarks the SBA's 504/CDC threshold value with the value set by the Federal financial regulators. This commonsense legislation will prevent future threshold changes from hampering small businesses that utilize SBA's many lending products.

I want to thank Mr. Curtis of Utah for leading the efforts on this bill, as well as Ranking Member Velazquez

and Mr. Evans. It has broad bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6348, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for her indications that we work very much in a bipartisan manner in our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis), whom I thank for his leadership in this effort.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, to conclude, the SBA's 504/CDC loan program is vital to many creditworthy small businesses that cannot obtain credit elsewhere. To reduce confusion from conflicting Federal rules, H.R. 6348 will update and bring SBA's commercial real estate threshold to the same level as other Federal financial regulators.

We must continue to work together to free small business owners from conflicting Federal regulations. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan reform instituted in H.R. 6348.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member for supporting the Small Business Access to Capital and Efficiency Act, or Small Business ACE Act. I am also grateful to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans) for joining as a cosponsor and for my colleagues on the Small Business Committee for advancing this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, the Small Business ACE Act is critical to reducing burdensome red tape and regulations that fall so disproportionately on small business. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy across the country and certainly in my home State of Utah where they make up over 99 percent of all Utah businesses and contribute two- thirds of all job growth. Without a doubt, the strength of our economy depends on these small businesses.

Although the economy continues to improve, small businesses and entrepreneurs often face challenges accessing capital. To assist creditworthy innovators, the Small Business Administration offers numerous lending programs, including the 504 loan program. Without using a single taxpayer dollar, the program has helped many well-known businesses throughout the United States and Utah.

In the past 20 years, the 504 program has supported over 4,500 entrepreneurs and nearly 64,000 jobs in Utah alone. However, despite the program's positive status, Federal red tape and conflicting regulations have hampered its development, weighing it down with roadblocks and uncertainty. As a result, many small businesses still have difficulty accessing capital.

The Small Business ACE Act will help fix this by eliminating Federal regulations burdening the program and harmonizing conflicting real estate appraisal thresholds that have prevented eligible small businesses from accessing capital.

I am pleased that my bill has broad support from important stakeholders, like the National Association of Development Companies, Mountain West Small Business Finance, and Utah Certified Development Company, that know better than anyone just how essential the 504 small business lending program is and how critical it is that we improve it. By reducing burdens on small businesses, we help ensure not only their individual success, but the success for our Nation's economy.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to put forth this commonsense legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6348, the Small Business ACE Act.

This important legislation updates SBA's outdated real estate appraisal threshold for the 504 loan program. It is vital for our country's small businesses that we keep current laws in sync with what is going on in the commercial market.

More importantly, this commonsense fix ensures as many small business borrowers as possible can affordably access the capital they need to grow their businesses and create jobs.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to recognize the chairman for his continued willingness to work across the aisle. He and his staff have set a bipartisan tone that I think all of us on this committee can be proud of. As a result, we are carrying out our responsibilities in a timely manner with input from both Republican and Democratic Members.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans), who is the ranking member on the Subcommittee of Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, with this legislation, we are only responding to the reality of the situation in the commercial lending market.

This is a commonsense fix with bipartisan support that will ensure small businesses are not unfairly burdened with appraisal requirements. Doing so allows small firms to allocate their working capital as wisely and efficiently as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this bill, 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.