Senate passes the Omnibus Appropriations Act

Published by admin | Filed under Bonds

On March 10, the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship passed the Omnibus Appropriations Act that included $546,626,000 for the Small Business Administration. This act will provide help for over 27 million small business in the United States.

“Small businesses are our nation’s number one job creators. With unemployment the highest it’s been in a quarter century and 80 percent of jobs cut in the last four months being from small businesses, entrepreneurs are turning to the government for help,” Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., said. “The Omnibus Appropriations Act will help create and save jobs by investing in small businesses and funding the programs they need to survive.”

One point of interest on this act is the amount of money being alocated to the Surety Bonds program. $2 million was included to leverage $1 billion in surety bonds. This will help the SBA guarantee many bonds for contractors who have been hit hard by the conventional bonding markets due to the creditcrunch. Over 9,400 jobs will be created or saved due to this allocation.