These days, small businesses need all the help they can get, and a new U.S. Senate bill is aimed at giving them a much-needed boost.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., would increase small businesses' access to capital, stimulate investment and promote entrepreneurship.
In a letter to Landrieu, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce® (NGLCC) endorsed the Small Business Jobs Act, which she co-introduced with Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, D-Mont., on June 29.
The NGLCC is especially pleased with the bill's capital gains exclusion and increased start-up deductions provisions, as well as provisions that increase Small Business Administration (SBA) loan limits.
"These [provisions] will ensure our small business members will be able to continue the path of growth many are already on," the letter stated.
Currently, small businesses may exclude 50 percent of the gain from selling certain small business stock acquired at original issues and held for more than five years. The Small Business Jobs Act would temporarily increase the exclusion amount to 100 percent for small business stock that is collected after the bill's enactment and held for more than five years.
The bill would also temporarily increase the amount of deductible start-up expenditures from $5,000 to $10,000, subject to a $60,000 phase-out threshold.
Under the bill's SBA loan limit provision, the limits for 7(a) loans—the most commonly used business loan, which guarantees a portion of loans provided by commercial lenders—will increase from $2 million to $5 million. Limits for a 504 loan—a long-term financing tool for economic development within a community—will increase from $1.5 million to $5.5 million. Limits for microloans, which are designed to make small loans to small businesses, will jump from $35,000 to $50,000.
For more details on the Small Business Jobs Act, download the full summary here.
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask your Senators to support the Senate Small Business Jobs Act.
