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First bill authored by Rep. Burchett advances out of House of Representatives

September 14, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 14, 2020) – Today, U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (TN-02) reached a significant achievement for his first term in Congress. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act, the first piece of legislation authored by Rep. Burchett to pass the House. U.S. Representative Andy Kim (NJ-03) joined Rep. Burchett to introduce this bipartisan bill.

While speaking in support of his legislation on the House Floor, Rep. Burchett pointed out rural small businesses deserve fair access to Small Business Administration (SBA) resources so they can grow.

"As a former local mayor, I know the difference that easy access to loans – even small ones – can make for our American mom-and-pop shops. Rural small businesses will have more opportunity to grow and innovate with the help of this legislation and the steps it takes to promote fair access to financial resources for every American small business," said Rep. Burchett.

"The coronavirus crisis has hit our small businesses hard, and they can use all the help they can get," said Rep. Kim. "I'm proud to work with Congressman Burchett to get this bill through the House and hope the Senate takes immediate action to help our entrepreneurs and get people back to work."

The Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act provides SBA microloan intermediaries with a 5% technical assistance grant for working with rural small businesses. Microloan intermediaries must make 25% of their loans to rural small businesses to be eligible for the technical assistance grant. The legislation also improves transparency within the Microloan Program by requiring the SBA to update Congress with a Portfolio Risk Analysis of microloans on an annual basis.

The Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act now heads to the Senate and awaits floor action. The text of the bill is available here and Rep. Burchett's full floor speech is available here.