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Durbin Pleased With Small Biz Bill
(IRN) -- U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will be on hand Monday when the president signs the Small Business Jobs Act into law.

The bill creates a $30 billion fund from which community banks can borrow at a discount and then lend to small businesses. Durbin says this makes up for the fact that the big banks that got bailed out by the government have reduced their small business loan balances by $11.6 billion.

"President Obama is going to sign a bill which is going to create an opportunity for small businesses to expand employment," Durbin said at a news conference Sunday at a small retail bakery in Chicago . "We understand that to come out of this recession, we have to help small businesses all across America to have the credit they need and the opportunities they need to expand."

The National Federation of Independent Businesses says only half of the small businesses that tried to borrow last year got all or most of what they needed.

For the purposes of this bill, a small business is a business that have averaged, over the last three years, less than $50 million a year in gross receipts. A community bank is defined as a bank with assets of less than $10 billion. The banks will have access to the money at a discount only if they lend it to small businesses under the program. The initial $30 billion is "seed money" from the federal government (either from the taxpayers or borrowed), but it is expected to be repaid.

(Illinois Radio Network)
09 27 10 by Newsroom
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