Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., on Thursday voted for cloture on the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010. He said the fully paid-for bill would provide tax incentives and a $30 billion loan fund to help small businesses expand and provide jobs. The Senate’s 58-42 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward for final debate and an up or down vote on the legislation. 

“Make no mistake, partisan bickerers have delayed a bill that will help small businesses stay open and create jobs, which is very disappointing,” Nelson said. “Coming together behind this bill is exactly how Congress should work. Small business owners, community bankers and others across Nebraska have told me it will help grow our small businesses and put Nebraskans to work.”

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., voted against the bill.

Nelson said because small businesses drive our nation’s economy, “Congress should take every reasonable opportunity to improve the climate for small businesses.”

“This bill would provide useful federal aid to foster small business jobs and help push America back onto the road of economic recovery,” he said. ”It is fully paid for, won’t add to the deficit and has strong support from our Main Street businesses, bankers and community leaders.”

What puzzles Nelson is that fact that,  “I cannot think of why anyone, except to score political points and add another ‘No’ notch on their belt strangling progress, would oppose this bill.”

“Passing common sense legislation that doesn’t add to the deficit and supports Nebraska’s small businesses is what Nebraskans expect Congress to do,” Nelson said.

 The small business lending fund bill would provide $12 billion in tax incentives for small businesses, encourage investment in small businesses and provide small businesses with the vital access to capital they need to create jobs. The Senate proposal has a $30 billion Federal small business lending fund and an agriculture disaster relief provision. Current estimates are that the amendment is deficit neutral over ten years.

The Independent Community Bankers of America, and 29 state associations, including Nebraska Independent Community Bankers, strongly supported the bill in a July 21 letter to Senate leaders.

 “The SBLF (Small Business Lending Fund) is a bold, fresh proposal that would provide another capital option for community banks to leverage and expand small business credit,” their letter said. “The $30 billion fund could be leveraged to provide as much as $300 billion of credit. What’s more, the structure of the SBLF program will create a powerful incentive for community bank recipients to lend… The SBLF proposal has all of the features needed to attract broad participation by community banks.”

 In addition, the American Bankers Association supports the bill, numbered H.R. 5297. Floyd E. Stoner, an ABA executive vice president, said in a recent letter to Congress: “Even with the general economy starting to improve, there are still many areas of the United States that struggle under the weight of the severe downturn.  Since banks are a reflection of their communities, they are suffering with the communities they serve.  Yet even in areas beset by poor economic conditions there are strong borrowers. (The bill) would allow banks to avoid that result and continue meeting the needs of their communities.  With an improving economy and public investments, such as those proposed in H.R. 5297, lending can increase faster in some of the hardest hit areas of the country.  Community banks, which are the life blood of many communities, can provide the needed capital.”

 Also supporting the Senate bill was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President Bruce Josten said in a July 23, 2010 letter to senators: “To get the economy back on track and generating jobs, America needs a strong and vibrant small business community.  To that end, H.R. 5297 contains many provisions that would allow entrepreneurs to have more access to capital.  Additionally, the bill contains important tax code changes that would encourage investment, promote fairness, and allow small business owners to retain existing cash flow from operations in order to start, grow, and expand their enterprises.”