Small Business Access to Capital and Efficiency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member for supporting the Small Business Access to Capital and Efficiency Act, or Small Business ACE Act. I am also grateful to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans) for joining as a cosponsor and for my colleagues on the Small Business Committee for advancing this bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, the Small Business ACE Act is critical to reducing burdensome red tape and regulations that fall so disproportionately on small business. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy across the country and certainly in my home State of Utah where they make up over 99 percent of all Utah businesses and contribute two- thirds of all job growth. Without a doubt, the strength of our economy depends on these small businesses.

Although the economy continues to improve, small businesses and entrepreneurs often face challenges accessing capital. To assist creditworthy innovators, the Small Business Administration offers numerous lending programs, including the 504 loan program. Without using a single taxpayer dollar, the program has helped many well-known businesses throughout the United States and Utah.

In the past 20 years, the 504 program has supported over 4,500 entrepreneurs and nearly 64,000 jobs in Utah alone. However, despite the program's positive status, Federal red tape and conflicting regulations have hampered its development, weighing it down with roadblocks and uncertainty. As a result, many small businesses still have difficulty accessing capital.

The Small Business ACE Act will help fix this by eliminating Federal regulations burdening the program and harmonizing conflicting real estate appraisal thresholds that have prevented eligible small businesses from accessing capital.

I am pleased that my bill has broad support from important stakeholders, like the National Association of Development Companies, Mountain West Small Business Finance, and Utah Certified Development Company, that know better than anyone just how essential the 504 small business lending program is and how critical it is that we improve it. By reducing burdens on small businesses, we help ensure not only their individual success, but the success for our Nation's economy.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to put forth this commonsense legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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