Small Biz Lending Bill Dies in Senate

Senate Republicans stopped the progress of H.R. 5297, Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, a bill designed to cut taxes and ease credit for small businesses, voting 58-42 on Thursday to end debate on the bill.

The bill fell short of the 60 votes required to consider the legislation for passage, Bloomberg reported.

Senate Republicans said they objected to the bill because Senate Democrats refused to consider their amendments to extend tax breaks and cap federal spending during the three weeks of debate over the small-business lending measure, Bloomberg said. Had the bill been approved for legislation, it would have provided $30 billion to banks with less than $10 billion in assets to encourage them to lend to small businesses, potentially resulting in $300 billion in lending.

The legislation was criticized as being similar to the $700 billion bank bailout of 2008, possibly inducing banks to make risk loans, Senate Republicans told Bloomberg.

H.R. 5297 is part of a package of bills designed to help small businesses to open or expand, and spur job growth at the same time. The bill accompanies H.R. 5486, the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010, which was approved by the House of Representatives on June 15 and is awaiting action from the Senate.