Senate Votes to Increase SBA Budget by $100 million in 2009

PETALUMA, Calif., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday, March 14th, the
Senate passed a budget that boosts the Small Business Administration's (SBA)
budget by $100 million over the Bush Administration's request for the SBA in
the 2009 budget blueprint.
The American Small Business League (ASBL) applauds Sen. John F. Kerry (D -
MA), the Chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and
Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Kent Conrad (D - ND) for working together to
secure the increase in the SBA's budget.
"This Democratic budget will help create jobs by investing in America's
small businesses," Sen. Kerry said in a statement released Friday. "Small
businesses create more than two-thirds of all new jobs, yet by refusing to
fund important small business programs the Bush Administration has starved
entrepreneurs of the resources they need to grow their firms." (For more
information, please visit http://sbc.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=294823 )
The ASBL has been openly critical of the Bush Administration's handling of
the SBA during the last eight years. Under the Bush Administration the SBA
budget has been consistently slashed. In 2000, the SBA's budget was $715
million as compared to $569 million in 2008. In 1978, the SBA's budget was
more than $3.5 billion, which is a far cry from the $569 million allotted to
the SBA by the Bush Administration in 2008. (For more information, please
visit http://www.fas.org/man/docs/fy99/historical/095-098.htm )
Since President Reagan, there have been several attempts to close the SBA
and end all programs designed to assist America's more than 27 million small
businesses. In fact, the Reagan Administration attempted to close the SBA in
1984 and 1985, only to have its efforts blocked by democratic members of
Congress. In response, Reagan officials increased the most common small
business size standard from 100 to 500 employees. In 1996, Republican members
of Congress followed suit and again proposed legislation to close the agency.
The attempt failed.
"The SBA's Budget should be $5 billion," said Lloyd Chapman, President of
the American Small Business League. "The small business administration is
there to help the companies that are the heart and soul of the American
economy, its small businesses. We hope that the next administration recognizes
the value of small businesses and boosts the SBA's budget and staffing to
never before seen levels."
The ASBL predicts that despite the increase in the SBA's budget, the Bush
Administration will make one final attempt at closing the SBA and ending
federal small business programs.
For more information, please visit www.asbl.com .
SOURCE American Small Business League

Christopher Gunn, Communications Director, of American Small Business League,
+1-707-789-9575, cgunn@asbl.com