SBA Direct Lending Plan Not Likely to Happen

A proposal to allow the SBA to get into the direct lending business appears to have been taken off the table. Originally, the president’s FY 2025 budget plan called for the SBA to get into direct lending “to address gaps in access to small dollar lending.” However, in the budget introduced by The House Committee on Appropriations this week, the Committee added a provision that would prohibit the SBA from “creating, implementing, administering, expanding, or enforcing a direct lending program that was not already in effect on January 1, 2024.” The Committee is chaired by Republican Tom Cole.