Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog: Doing What's Best for Small Businesses By Erica Sagrans- Sep 3, 2010 1:47:15 PM ET

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog:

Doing What's Best for Small Businesses

By Erica Sagrans - Sep 3, 2010 1:47:15 PM ET "This piece of legislation is good for workers, it's good for small business people, it's good for our economy. And yet, Republicans in the Senate have blocked this bill -- a needless delay that has led small business owners across the country to put off hiring, put off expanding and put off plans that will make our economy stronger." – President Obama Today the President called on members of Congress to immediately pass a small business bill that has been held up by Senate Republicans. New jobs numbers released this morning show that while we’re continuing to make progress on the economy—adding 67,000 private sector jobs in the 8th consecutive month of growth—businesses and workers are still hurting. Loans for small businesses under the Recovery Act have successfully helped create jobs, but funds ran out in May. The Small Business Jobs Act would mean that more than 1,000 small businesses waiting for loans would be able to receive them. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills explained on the White House blog: Not only will the bill immediately help thousands of small business owners get access to capital, but it will also raise the limit on SBA loans from $2 million to $5 million, helping high-growth small firms who are ready to expand, franchisees who want to open a new location, and exporters who need to ramp up to meet a big order from abroad. And on top of that, the bill has $12 billion in tax cuts for small businesses, including accelerated depreciation, eliminating capital gains on small business investments, and doubling the deduction for start-ups.  It’s fully paid for and both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses have praised the legislation. In other words, this is a strong bill.  It has broad support.  It will give taxpayers a big bang for their buck.  And, it will benefit thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners across the country, including the more than 1,000 who are right now waiting to get an SBA Recovery loan.