Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today announced the committee has approved the nominations of David C. Tryon to be Chief Counsel at the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy and Hannibal M. Ware to be Inspector General at the SBA. In addition, the committee passed eight bipartisan bills to increase access to capital for small businesses, improve training and other resources, and boost investment opportunities.
“Throughout their nomination hearing, David Tryon and Hannibal Ware highlighted their strong desire to achieve real regulatory reforms for small businesses and to protect the taxpayer resources at the SBA,” said Chairman Risch. “Given the Office of Advocacy’s and the Inspector General’s inherent roles as watchdogs in the federal government, I believe Tryon and Ware will naturally fit the positions for which they’ve been nominated. I look forward to bringing them before the Senate for consideration. Additionally, I am pleased to see eight bipartisan bills advanced today, including five of my bills that will ensure small businesses have access to the capital, training, and resources they need to start and grow.”
“My priority on the Small Business Committee is to break down the barriers that prevent entrepreneurs with good ideas from starting and growing successful companies. To that end, I expect the SBA nominees we approved today to put the interests of small businesses above ideology and partisan politics,” said Senator Cardin. “I am also pleased the committee is working together and advancing these targeted, bipartisan bills to direct more capital to underserved communities and innovative startups in Maryland and better support the entrepreneurs who create jobs and build sustainable small businesses in our communities.”
The two nominations and eight bipartisan bills that passed the Senate Small Business Committee today include:
• The nomination of David C. Tryon to be Chief Counsel at the SBA Office of Advocacy
• The nomination of Hannibal M. Ware to be Inspector General at the SBA Office of Inspector General
S. 526, Microloan Modernization Act of 2017 as amended: Fischer-Coons-Scott-Gillibrand
• This legislation amends the Small Business Act to increase the microloan intermediary lending limit and increases the percentage of funds that can be expended on technical assistance before a borrower receives a loan.
S. 1961, SBIR and STTR Oversight and Pilot Program Extension Act of 2017 as amended: Risch-Shaheen
• This bill extends, for one year, four pilot programs that were included in the 2011 SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act.
S. 1995, Spurring Business in Communities Act of 2017: Rubio-Baldwin
• This bill amends the Small Business Investment Act (SBIA) to increase the participation of Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program applicants that are located in states that have a small number of SBICs (“underlicensed states”) by allowing the Administrator to give first priority to applicants from underlicenced states.
S. 2283, Small Business 7(a) Lending Oversight Reform Act of 2018 as amended: Risch-Shaheen
• This bill will increase the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) oversight authority of the 7(a) loan program. Specifically, it preserves this important loan program by: strengthening SBA’s Office of Credit Risk Management by outlining in statute the responsibilities of the Office and the requirements of its director; enhancing SBA’s lender oversight review process, including increasing the Office’s enforcement options; requiring SBA to detail its oversight budget and perform a full risk analysis of the program on an annual basis; and, strengthening SBA’s Credit Elsewhere Test by clarifying the factors that must be considered.
S. 791, Small Business Innovation Protection Act of 2017: Peters-Risch
• This bill asks the SBA to develop partnership agreements with the Patent and Trade Office to train entrepreneurs and small business owners on how to protect their intellectual property (IP) as part of a business plan and growth strategy.
S. 1538, Small Business Employee Ownership Promotion Enhancement Act of 2017 as amended: Peters-Risch
• This bill will task the SCORE Association with appointing an Employee Ownership Director within SCORE to lead efforts to distribute information about employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and to provide general technical assistance relating to business forms and strategies for setting up an ESOP.
S. 2419, Support Startup Businesses Act of 2018 as amended: Coons-Gardner
• This bill allows for greater flexibility in the use of SBIR award funds by small businesses for commercialization activities and increases the number of agency-approved vendors that can assist small businesses.
S. 2527, A bill to amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase the amount of leverage made available to small business investment companies: Cardin-Risch-Kennedy
• The bill modifies SBA’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program by increasing the amount of capital that SBICs can invest in qualifying small businesses.
