WASHINGTON – United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing this morning to discuss President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget request for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the SBA’s Office of Advocacy.  Testifying before the Committee were SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills and Chief Counsel for Advocacy Dr. Winslow Sargeant.

“With this budget request, the President has signaled, once again, his commitment to the millions of small businesses across the country,” Senator Landrieu said.  “As small businesses continue to recover from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, it is important to ensure that the SBA is adequately funded to successfully fulfill its core mission. This is one of the strongest budgets submitted for the SBA since the Clinton Administration and I am committed to restoring this Agency after years of neglect.”

Sen. Landrieu continued, “This budget also acknowledges the current fiscal climate the country is facing.  I believe that the increasing deficit is a significant and dangerous problem that if not dealt with, could undermine the tremendous progress we have made in rebuilding and strengthening the SBA over the last two years.  This Committee will continue to closely monitor and evaluate programs operated by the SBA to ensure they are performing as intended.”

The President requested $985 million in funding for the Agency for FY2012, a 45% decrease in funding from the FY2010 enacted level ($1.786 billion) and 7% less than the funding the SBA requested during the final year of the Clinton Administration.  The Presidents’ proposal for the SBA accounts for .02% of the entire budget according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  The President’s budget request for Advocacy direct costs in FY 2012 is $9.2 million, of that, $7.4 million to support 46 positions.   According to the Office of Advocacy, on average during the last five years, each $1,618 spent on Advocacy has yielded $1 million in regulatory cost savings. 

Fiscal Year 2012 Budget highlights for SBA and Office of Advocacy include:

  • $129 million to support $16.5 billion in lending through the 7(a) loan program
  • $81. million to support $7.5 billion in lending through the 504 loan program; 
  • $167 million to administer the SBA’s disaster loan program and leverage $1.1 billion in disaster loans;
  • $14 million for the Women’s Business Center program;
  • $1.25 for Native American Outreach;
  • $7 million for SCORE;
  • $2.5 million for Veterans Business Development programs;
  • $1 million to implement the Women’s Procurement Program;
  • $1.3 million for data acquisition, specialized contract research, support of custom data tabulations at other agencies, and related costs at the Office of Advocacy.