Fisher: Vital Federal Fund Helping Ohio Small Businesses Create Jobs Is...Empty

Fisher Calls for Extension of Initiative to Prevent Higher Fees on Ohio’s Mom and Pops

Portman Votes “No” on Jobs Bill, Teams with Wall Street to Cut Life Line to Creating Jobs

COLUMBUS – U.S. Senate candidate Lee Fisher today called for an immediate extension of a key federal lending initiative to help Ohio’s small businesses grow and create jobs, amid reports that the fund will run dry within days. Government officials reported this week that bank lending nationwide dropped $587 billion last year, the steepest decline since the 1940s.

Without an extension of the SBA’s lending initiative, Ohio’s Mom and Pop businesses will have to pay higher fees and fork over more capital to access federally-backed loans.

Fisher said, “Small business owners desperately need capital to expand and create jobs. But bailed out banks still aren’t lending to Ohio’s mom and pops. We need to strengthen the life line to Ohio’s small businesses now, but Rob Portman opposes efforts to help them grow and hire new workers.”

Despite claiming support for small business, Congressman Portman said he opposed a bipartisan jobs bill passed with overwhelming support of 70 senators this week, including the man he hopes to replace, Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich. The jobs bill will provide tax credits for small businesses that hire unemployed workers. Portman’s support for higher taxes on small business mirrors his track record in Congress, where he supported cutting funds for small business and increasing fees on Small Businesses Administration loans.

Fisher said that the end of this SBA fund couldn’t come at a worse time for Ohio’s struggling small business owners. A Treasury report last week found that the 11 major banks shaved $2.3 billion off their collective small business loan balance in December.

The Recovery Act provided $500 million to allow the Small Business Administration to make loans more attractive to lenders by reducing fees and guaranteeing greater loan amounts.

The program, which reduces loan fees and offers a 90% guarantee to banks that make SBA loans, has worked:

• In Ohio alone, these resources helped more than 2,100 small businesses find loans.
• Applications for SBA loans rose 20% statewide and 50% in the Columbus District.
• Nationwide, the $500 million fund leveraged $20 billion in lending small businesses.
• The initiative backed 35% more loans in the last quarter over the previous year.