The U.S. Senate voted, 66-33, to proceed the consideration of H.R. 5297, the "Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010" (Rep. Frank, D-MA), which was replaced with a substitute version — the "Small Business Jobs Act" (Sens. Baucus (D-MT) and Landrieu (D-LA)). However, prospects for this bill remain unclear in the Senate, with a floor vote not expected until mid-July.
Similar to H.R. 5297, which passed the House on June 17, the Senate substitute would establish a Small Business Lending Fund of $30 billion to provide loans to small community banks to help spur small business lending. The performance-based program would incentivize only those participating lenders that extend new credit to small businesses by decreasing the interest rate banks pay as they increase lending. However, unlike the version passed by the House, the Senate substitute includes an extension to an expired bonus depreciation provision that was very popular amongst small businesses.
Shortly after the House passed H.R. 5297, NAR submitted a letter to the Senate, urging for passage of this legislation. NAR also asked the Senate to include language that would allow credit unions to increase loans to commercial real estate borrowers and small businesses.
Read NAR's Letter to the Senate