Senator Tammy Baldwin's office issued the following today:
12.06.18
U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Marco Rubio’s Bipartisan Legislation to Spur Small Business Investment Heads to President’s Desk
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) today praised the Senate passage of their bipartisan Spurring Business in Communities Act
that will increase the amount of start-up funding for small businesses
in underserved states like Wisconsin. The House passed the legislation
in May and it now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
“Small businesses are the engines of our Made in
Wisconsin economy and if we increase the amount of start-up funding in
states like Wisconsin, we can create new jobs and grow our economy,” said Senator Baldwin.
“Wisconsin has lagged in business start-up activity and I have worked
to change that. This legislation will help carry on Wisconsin’s proud
history of entrepreneurship and innovation by providing more support to
our small business start-ups, and I’m looking forward to the President
signing this bill into law.”
“This bill will help to keep and encourage more
investment in Florida’s economy, instead of being shoe-horned into Wall
Street and Silicon Valley,” said Senator Rubio. “I’ll continue to fight for Florida’s economy, and I look forward to the president signing this important bill into law.”
According to the Kauffman Foundation, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurship advocacy and research organizations, Wisconsin ranked last in business start-up activity in reports released in 2017, 2016 and 2015.
The Spurring Business in Communities Act
will allow more Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) to form and
invest in Wisconsin, Florida and other under-licensed states to ensure
government financing for small businesses does not disproportionately
benefit areas already dominated by financial services.
Specifically, the legislation will:
- Exempt SBIC applicants from under-licensed states from full capital requirements;
- Give first priority to new applicants from under-licensed and under-financed states; and
- Establish annual reporting requirements on the Small Business Administration’s progress toward increasing the geographic dispersion of SBICs.
More information about the Spurring Business in Communities Act is available here.