Senators Say: More TARP Funds for Small Businesses
by Christina Lee on April 1st, 2009
Using bailout funds to expand existing small business credit lines is what two senators called a “common-sense solution” – one they hope to discuss soon with the Treasury Department.
Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, representing the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, wrote a letter addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. It results from a March 19 hearing, where entrepreneurs discussed how credit and loan options have diminished despite perfect payment histories.
“Without our help, small businesses won’t be able to fulfill their role as the engine of economic growth at a time when our economy needs them more than ever,” Sen. Landrieu said in a statement.
Sen. Snowe raised the idea of using Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds at the hearing, before contributing to the letter.
“It will provide banks an assurance that their loan will be paid, but, most critically, it will enable small businesses to obtain the capital they need to keep their doors open and employees on the job,” the senators wrote in the letter.
The government has already agreed though to use $15 million in TARP funds to stand behind Small Business Administration loans.