Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, passed a Senate resolution commemorating the 30 th anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988. 

“Since the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 was signed into law, the number of women-owned businesses has skyrocketed, with a 45 percent increase between 2007 and 2016,” said Chairman Risch. “Female entrepreneurs have had an invaluable impact on our economy, and the importance of advancing policies that continue to aid in their success is reinforced today as we commemorate the 30 th anniversary of that law.”

“Women entrepreneurs have always challenged the status quo, and it is with this spirit that they have been able to create new businesses and disrupt established industries at a record pace, particularly since the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988,” Ranking Member Cardin said. “As we commemorate this landmark law’s 30th anniversary and what it has meant for women’s entrepreneurship, we must reaffirm our commitment to promoting policies that address the unique challenges that women in business face.”

On October 25, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 into law, empowering women entrepreneurs to independently pursue access to capital and providing unique federal assistance programs under the Small Business Administration. 

The Risch/Cardin resolution commemorates the 30 th anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 and recognizes the invaluable contributions female entrepreneurs make to our nation’s economy. Over 10 million women-owned small businesses in the United States employ more than 8,400,000 people and generate nearly $1,500,000,000,000 in sales annually.

Sponsors of the Risch/Cardin resolution are U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Steve Daines (R-MT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chris Coons (D-DE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Tim Scott (R-SC).

Click here to read the resolution.