Small Business Administration:
A Primer on Programs and Funding
Updated September 23, 2021
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
RL33243

Small Business Administration: A Primer on Programs and Funding

Summary
The Smal Business Administration (SBA) administers several types of programs to support smal
businesses, including loan guaranty and venture capital programs to enhance smal business
access to capital; contracting programs to increase smal business opportunities in federal
contracting; direct loan programs for businesses, homeowners, and renters to assist their recovery
from natural disasters; and smal business management and technical assistance training programs
to assist business formation and expansion.
Congressional interest in the SBA’s programs has grown especial y acute in recent months due to
the widespread, adverse impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the national
economy.
This report provides an overview of the SBA’s programs, including
 entrepreneurial development programs (including Smal Business Development
Centers, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, and Microloan Technical
Assistance);
 disaster assistance;
 capital access programs (including the 7(a) loan guaranty program, the
504/Certified Development Company loan guaranty program, the Microloan
program, International Trade and Export Promotion programs, and lender
oversight);
 contracting programs (including the 8(a) Minority Smal Business and Capital
Ownership Development Program, the Historical y Underutilized Business Zones
[HUBZones] program, the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Smal Business
Program, the Women-Owned Smal Business [WOSB] Federal Contract
Program, and the Surety Bond Guarantee Program);
 SBA regional and district offices, the Office of Inspector General, and the Office
of Advocacy; and
 capital investment programs (including the Smal Business Investment Company
program, the New Markets Venture Capital program, the Smal Business
Innovation Research [SBIR] program, the Smal Business Technology Transfer
program [STTR], and growth accelerators).
The report also discusses recent programmatic changes resulting from the enactment of
legislation, including
 P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES
Act), which, among other provisions, created the Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP) to provide forgivable, low-interest loans to smal businesses, smal
501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, and smal 501(c)(19) veterans organizations
that have been adversely affected by COVID-19.
 P.L. 116-139, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement
Act, which, among other provisions, increased the PPP authorization limit from
$349 bil ion to $659 bil ion.
 P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which, among other
provisions, extends the PPP through March 31, 2021, increases the program’s
authorization amount from $659 bil ion to $806.45 bil ion, and al ows second-
draw PPP loans of up to $2 mil ion.
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 P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which, among other
provisions, increased the PPP authorization amount to $813.7 bil ion and
provided $53.6 bil ion for SBA program enhancements, including $28.6 bil ion
for a restaurant revitalization grant program.
This report also provides an overview of the SBA’s budget and references other CRS reports that
examine the SBA’s programs in greater detail.
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Small Business Administration: A Primer on Programs and Funding

Introduction
Established in 1953, the Smal Business Administration’s (SBA’s) origins can be traced to the
Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II, when concerns about unemployment and war
production were paramount. The SBA assumed some of the functions of the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation (RFC), which had been created by the federal government in 1932 to
provide funding for businesses of al sizes during the Depression and later financed war
production. During the early 1950s, the RFC was disbanded following charges of political
favoritism in the granting of loans and contracts.1
In 1953, Congress passed the Smal Business Act (P.L. 83-163), which authorized the SBA. The
act specifies that the SBA’s mission is to promote the interests of smal businesses to enhance
competition in the private marketplace:
It is the declared policy of the Congress that the Government should aid, counsel, assist,
and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small-business concerns in order to
preserve free competitive enterprise, to insure that a fair proportion of the total purchases
and contracts or subcontracts for property and services for the Government (including but
not limited to contracts or subcontracts for maintenance, repair, and construction) be placed
with small-business enterprises, to insure that a fair proportion of the total sales of
Government property be made to such enterprises, and to maintain and strengthen the
overall economy of the Nation.2
The SBA currently administers several types of programs to support smal businesses, including
loan guaranty and venture capital programs to enhance smal business access to capital;
contracting programs to increase smal business opportunities in federal contracting; direct loan
programs for businesses, homeowners, and renters to assist their recovery from natural disasters;
and smal business management and technical assistance training programs to assist business
formation and expansion. Congressional interest in these programs has increased in recent years,
primarily because smal businesses are viewed as a means to stimulate economic activity and
create jobs. This interest has grown especial y acute in recent months due to the widespread,
adverse impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the national economy.
This report provides an overview of the SBA’s programs and funding. It also references other
CRS reports that examine the SBA’s programs in greater detail.3
The SBA’s FY2022 congressional budget justification document includes funding and program
costs for the following programs and offices:

1 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Expenditures, Subcommittee on Investigations, Influence in Government
Procurem ent, 82nd Cong., 1st sess., September 13-15, 17, 19-21, 24-28, Oct ober 3-5, 1951 (Washington: GPO, 1951)
and U.S. Congress, Senate Banking and Currency, RFC Act Am endm ents of 1951, hearing on bills to amend the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, 82 nd Cong., 1st sess., April 27, 30, May 1, 2, 22, 23, 1951 (Washington: GPO,
1951).
2 P.L. 83-163, the Small Business Act of 1953 (as amended), see https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1834/
pdf/COMPS-1834.pdf.
3 T he Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) programs have detailed rules on program requirements and
administration that are not covered in this report. More detailed information concerning the SBA’s programs is
available in the CRS reports referenced later in this report , on the SBA’s website at https://www.sba.gov/, in 15 U.S.C.
§631 et seq., and in T itle 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations, see https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2019-
title13-vol1/pdf/CFR-2019-title13-vol1-chapI.pdf.
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1. disaster assistance (including disaster loan making, servicing, and liquidation; the
Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program;4 and Economic Injury Disaster Loan
(EIDL) grants);
2. capital access programs (including the Paycheck Protection Program, 7(a) loan
guaranty program, the 504/Certified Development Company [CDC] loan
guaranty program, the Microloan program, International Trade and Export
Promotion programs, and lender oversight);
3. entrepreneurial development programs (including Smal Business Development
Centers (SBDCs), Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), SCORE,
Entrepreneurship Education, Native American Outreach, Regional Innovation
Clusters, Cybersecurity Grants, Community Navigator Pilot Program,
Centralized HUB for COVID-19 information, PRIME, the State Trade Expansion
Program, and veterans’ programs);
4. contracting programs (including the 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance
program, the 8(a) Minority Smal Business and Capital Ownership Development
program, the Historical y Underutilized Business Zones [HUBZones] program,
the Prime Contract Assistance program, the Women’s Business program, the
Subcontracting program, and the Surety Bond Guarantee program);
5. capital investment programs (including the Smal Business Investment Company
[SBIC] program, the New Market Venture Capital program, the Smal Business
Innovation Research [SBIR] program, the Smal Business Technology Transfer
program [STTR], and growth accelerators);
6. regional and district offices (counseling, training, and outreach services);
7. the Office of Inspector General (OIG);
8. the Restaurant Revitalization Fund;
9. the Office of Advocacy; and
10. executive direction programs (the National Women’s Business Council, Office of
Ombudsman, and Faith-Based Initiatives).
This report also provides a brief overview of
 P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES
Act), which, among other provisions, created the $349 bil ion Paycheck
Protection Program (PPP) to provide forgivable, low-interest loans to smal
businesses, smal 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, and smal 501(c)(19)
veterans organizations that have been adversely affected by COVID-19.5 Initial y,
PPP loans were available until June 30, 2020, had a two-year term, and a 1.0%
interest rate.
 P.L. 116-139, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement
Act, which, among other provisions, increased the PPP authorization limit to
$659 bil ion and appropriated an additional $321.335 bil ion to support that
authorization level.6

4 For additional information and analysis of the SBA’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, see CRS Report
R46689, SBA Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program (SVOG) , by Robert Jay Dilger and Sean Lowry.
5 For additional information and analysis of the SBA provisions in P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (CARES Act), see CRS Report R46284, COVID-19 Relief Assistance to Sm all Businesses:
Issues and Policy Options, by Robert Jay Dilger, Bruce R. Lindsay, and Sean Lowry .
6 For additional information and analysis of the SBA provisions in P.L. 116-139, the Paycheck Protection Program and
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 P.L. 116-142, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, which, among
other provisions, extended the PPP loan forgiveness covered period from 8 weeks
after the loan’s origination date to the earlier of 24 weeks or December 31, 2020.
Current PPP borrowers were al owed to remain under the 8-week covered period.
The act also provided a minimum five-year maturity for al PPP loans made on or
after enactment (June 5, 2020).
 P.L. 116-147, to extend the authority for commitments for the paycheck
protection program, which extended the PPP covered loan period from June 30,
2020, to August 8, 2020, and authorized $659 bil ion for PPP loan commitments
and $30 bil ion for 7(a) loan commitments.
 P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which, among other
provisions, extends the PPP through March 31, 2021, increases the program’s
authorization amount from $659 bil ion to $806.45 bil ion, and al ows second-
draw PPP loans of up to $2 mil ion.
 P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which, among other
provisions, increased the PPP authorization amount to $813.7 bil ion and
provided $53.6 bil ion for SBA program enhancements, including $28.6 bil ion
for a restaurant revitalization grant program.
Table 1 shows the SBA’s estimated costs in FY2021 for the SBA’s program areas. Program costs
often differ from new budget authority provided in annual appropriations acts because the SBA
has specified authority to carry over appropriations from previous fiscal years. The SBA also has
limited, specified authority to shift appropriations among various programs.
Table 1. Major SBA Program Areas, Estimated Program Costs, FY2021
($ in mil ions)
Program Category
Estimated Costs
Disaster Loan Programs
$53,060.207
Capital Access Programs
$548.788
Entrepreneurial Development Programs
$433.811
Contracting Programs
$107.702
Capital Investment Programs
$45.162
Regional and District Offices
$42.549
Office of Inspector General
$37.260
Restaurant Revitalization Fund
$28.711
Office of Advocacy
$16.112
Executive Direction Programs
$4.359
Total
$54,324.661
Sources: U.S. Smal Business Administration, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance
Report, pp. 21-23, at https://www.sba.gov/document/report-congressional-budget-justification-annual-
performance-report.

Health Care Enhancement Act (Enhancement Act), see CRS Report R46284, COVID-19 Relief Assistance to Sm all
Businesses: Issues and Policy Options, by Robert Jay Dilger, Bruce R. Lindsay, and Sean Lowry ; and CRS Report
R46325, Fourth COVID-19 Relief Package (P.L. 116-139): In Brief, coordinated by William L. Painter.
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Notes: Program costs often differ from new budget authority provided in annual appropriations acts because
the SBA has specified authority to carry over appropriations from previous fiscal years. The SBA also has limited,
specified authority to shift appropriations among various programs. The table excludes program costs for the
SBA’s COVID-19-related programs, which have been provided $760.98 bil ion in supplemental appropriations.
Disaster Loans
Overview7
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, SBA disaster assistance was provided in the form of loans, not
grants, which must be repaid to the federal government. As wil be discussed, funding for the
SBA’s disaster loan programs was increased significantly in FY2020 and FY2021 to help small
businesses adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, In addition, several temporary disaster
assistance grant programs were created:
 the CARES Act appropriated $10 bil ion for Emergency Economic Injury
Disaster Loan (EIDL) advance payment grants;
 P.L. 116-139, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement
Act, appropriated another $10 bil ion for EIDL advance payment grants;
 P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and
Venues Act (Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2021), appropriated $20 bil ion for Targeted EIDL advance payment grants; and
 P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, appropriated another $10
bil ion for Targeted EIDL advance payment grants and $5 bil ion for Targeted
EIDL advance payment supplemental grants.
The SBA’s disaster loan programs are unique in two respects: (1) they are the only loans made by
the SBA that go directly to the ultimate borrower; and (2) SBA disaster assistance is not limited to
smal businesses.8
SBA disaster loans are available to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in
declared disaster areas.9 Prior to COVID-19, about 80% of the SBA’s direct disaster loans were
issued to individuals and households (renters and property owners) to repair and replace homes
and personal property. During COVID-19, about 99% of the SBA’s direct disaster loans have
been issued to smal businesses that have suffered economic losses due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
In recent years, the SBA Disaster Loan Program has been the subject of regular congressional and
media attention because of concerns expressed about the time it takes the SBA to process disaster
loan applications. The SBA disbursed $401 mil ion in disaster loans in FY2016, $889 mil ion in
FY2017, $3.59 bil ion in FY2018, $1.5 bil ion in FY2019, and $194.6 bil ion in FY2020 ($194
bil ion in COVID-19-related disaster loans and $582 mil ion for natural disasters).10

7 For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R41309, The SBA Disaster Loan Program: Overview and
Possible Issues for Congress, by Bruce R. Lindsay.
8 13 C.F.R. §123.200.
9 13 C.F.R. §123.105 and 13 C.F.R. §123.203.
10 SBA, Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs, “WDS Report Amount Fiscal Year 2019, T able 1.4
Disbursements by Program,” October 18, 2019; and SBA, Agency Financial Report: Fiscal Year 2020, p. 14, at
https://www.sba.gov/document/report -agency-financial-report.
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Types of Disaster Loans
The SBA Disaster Loan Program includes the following categories of loans for disaster-related
losses: home disaster loans, business physical disaster loans, and economic injury disaster loans.11
Disaster Loans to Homeowners, Renters, and Personal Property Owners
Homeowners, renters, and personal property owners located in a declared disaster area (and in
contiguous counties) may apply to the SBA for loans to help recover losses from a declared
disaster. Only victims located in a declared disaster area (and contiguous counties) are eligible to
apply for disaster loans. Disaster declarations are “official notices recognizing that specific
geographic areas have been damaged by floods and other acts of nature, riots, civil disorders, or
industrial accidents such as oil spil s.”12 Five categories of declarations put the SBA Disaster
Loan Program into effect. These include two types of presidential major disaster declarations as
authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford
Act)13 and three types of SBA declarations.14
The SBA’s Home Disaster Loan Program fal s into two categories: personal property loans and
real property loans. These loans are limited to uninsured losses. The maximum term for SBA
disaster loans is 30 years, but the law restricts businesses with credit available elsewhere to a
maximum 7-year term. The SBA sets the instal ment payment amount and corresponding
maturity based upon each borrower’s ability to repay.
Personal Property Loans
A personal property loan provides a creditworthy homeowner or renter with up to $40,000 to
repair or replace personal property items, such as furniture, clothing, or automobiles, damaged or
lost in a disaster. These loans cover only uninsured or underinsured property and primary
residences and cannot be used to replace extraordinarily expensive or irreplaceable items, such as
antiques or recreational vehicles. Interest rates vary depending on whether applicants are able to
obtain credit elsewhere. For applicants who can obtain credit without SBA assistance, the interest
rate may not exceed 8% per year. For applicants who cannot obtain credit without SBA
assistance, the interest rate may not exceed 4% per year.15
Real Property Loans
A creditworthy homeowner may apply for a real property loan of up to $200,000 to repair or
restore his or her primary residence to its predisaster condition.16 The loans may not be used to

T he SBA also disbursed $20 billion in Emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance (grant) payments in
FY2020.
11 T he SBA also offers military reservist economic injury disaster loans. T hese loans are available when economic
injury is incurred as a direct result of a business owner or an essential employee being called to active duty. Generally,
these loans are not associated with disasters. See CRS Report R42695, SBA Veterans Assistance Program s: An
Analysis of Contem porary Issues, by Robert Jay Dilger and Sean Lowry.
12 13 C.F.R. §123.2.
13 P.L. 93-288, Disaster Relief Act Amendments and 42 U.S.C. §5721 et seq.
14 Disaster declarations are published in the Federal Register and can also be found on the SBA website at
https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/Declarations/Index.
15 13 C.F.R. §123.105(a)(1).
16 13 C.F.R. §123.105(a)(2). For mitigation measures implemented after a disaster has occurred to protect the damaged
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upgrade homes or build additions, unless upgrades or changes are required by city or county
building codes. The interest rate for real property loans is determined in the same way as it is
determined for personal property loans.
Disaster Loans to Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations
Several types of loans, discussed below, are available to businesses and nonprofit organizations
located in counties covered by a presidential disaster declaration. In certain circumstances, the
SBA wil also make these loans available when a governor, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the
Secretary of Commerce makes a disaster declaration. Physical disaster loans are available to
almost any nonprofit organization or business. Other business disaster loans are limited to smal
businesses.
Physical Disaster Loan
Any business or nonprofit organization, regardless of size, can apply for a physical disaster
business loan of up to $2 mil ion for repairs and replacements to real property, machinery,
equipment, fixtures, inventory, and leasehold improvements that are not covered by insurance.
Physical disaster loans for businesses may use up to 20% of the verified loss amount for
mitigation measures in an effort to prevent loss from a similar disaster in the future. Nonprofit
organizations that are rejected or approved by the SBA for less than the requested amount for a
physical disaster loan are, in some circumstances, eligible for grants from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). For applicants that can obtain credit without SBA assistance, the
interest rate may not exceed 8% per year. For applicants that cannot obtain credit without SBA
assistance, the interest rate may not exceed 4% per year.17
Economic Injury Disaster Loans
Economic injury disaster loans (EIDLs) are limited to smal businesses as defined by the SBA’s
size regulations, which vary from industry to industry.18 If the Secretary of Agriculture designates
an agriculture production disaster, smal farms and smal cooperatives are eligible. EIDLs are
available in the counties included in a presidential disaster declaration and contiguous counties.
The loans are designed to provide smal businesses with operating funds until those businesses
recover. The maximum loan is $2 mil ion, and the terms are the same as personal and physical
disaster business loans. The loan can have a maturity of up to 30 years and has an interest rate of
4% or less.19
P.L. 116-123, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act,
2020, provided EIDL eligibility to smal businesses adversely affected by the coronavirus.20

property from a similar disaster in the future, a homeowner can request that the approved loan amount be increased by
the lesser of the cost of the mitigation measure or up to 20% of the verified loss (before deducting compensation from
other sources), to a maximum of $200,000. 13 C.F.R. §127.
17 13 C.F.R. §123.203.
18 See 13 C.F.R. §123.300 for eligibility requirements. Size standards vary according to a variety of facto rs, including
industry type, average firm size, and start -up costs and entry barriers. Size standards can be located in 13 C.F.R. 121.
For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R40860, Sm all Business Size Standards: A Historical Analysis of
Contem porary Issues, by Robert Jay Dilger.
19 13 C.F.R. §123.302.
20 Under present law and regulations, the first SBA EIDL payment is normally due five months after disbursement.
However, on March 23, 2020, the SBA announced that it would defer payments on existing disaster loans through
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The CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) temporarily expanded (through December 31, 2020) EIDL
eligibility beyond currently eligible smal businesses, private nonprofit organizations, and smal
agricultural cooperatives, to include startups, cooperatives, and eligible employee-owned
businesses (employee stock ownership plans) with fewer than 500 employees, sole proprietors,
and independent contractors. The act also authorized the SBA Administrator, in response to
economic injuries caused by COVID-19, to
 waive the no credit available elsewhere requirement;
 approve an applicant based solely on their credit score;
 not require applicants to submit a tax return or tax return transcript for approval;
 waive any rules related to the personal guarantee on advances and loans of not
more than $200,000; and
 waive the requirement that the applicant needs to be in business for the one-year
period before the disaster declaration, except that no waiver may be made for a
business that was not in operation on January 31, 2020.
The CARES Act also authorized the SBA Administrator, through December 31, 2020, to provide
up to $10,000 as an advance payment in the amount requested within three days after receiving an
EIDL application from an eligible entity. Applicants were not required to repay the advance
payment, even if subsequently denied an EIDL loan. The funds may be used for any eligible
EIDL expense, including, among other expenses, providing paid sick leave to employees unable
to work due to COVID-19, maintaining payroll to retain employees, and meeting increased costs
to obtain materials due to supply chain disruptions. Due to anticipated high demand, the SBA
limited EIDL-advance payments (also known as Emergency EIDL grants) to $1,000 per
employee, up to a maximum of $10,000. The act appropriated $10 bil ion for Emergency EIDL
grants.
The CARES Act was enacted on March 27, 2020. On March 30, 2020, the SBA updated its
website to al ow COVID-19-related EIDL applicants an option to request an Emergency EIDL
Advance Payment grant.21 On April 15, 2020, the SBA stopped accepting new EIDL and
Emergency EIDL grant applications because it was approaching its appropriations limit for
disaster assistance.22 The SBA continued to process EIDL and Emergency EIDL grant
applications that were submitted prior to April 16, 2020.
P.L. 116-139 appropriated an additional $50 bil ion for EIDL (to support up to $367.1 bil ion in
loan authority) and $10 bil ion for Emergency EIDL grants. The act also provided EIDL

December 31, 2020, “to help borrowers during this unprecedented time.” Payments on new EIDL loans were also
deferred for one year (interest did accrue). Additionally, on March 1 2, 2021, the SBA extended the deferment period
for all COVID-19-related EIDL and other disaster loans until 2022. Specifically, all disaster loans made in calendar
year 2020 will have a first payment due extended from 12 months to 24 months from the date o f the note, and all
disaster loans made in calendar year 2021 will have a first payment due extended from 12 months to 18 months from
the date of the note. See SBA, “Carranza Implements Automatic Deferment on Existing SBA Disaster Loans T hrough
End of 2020,” March 23, 2020, at https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/
carranza-implements-automatic-deferment-existing-sba-disaster-loans-through-end-2020; and SBA, “ SBA Extends
Deferment Period for all COVID-19 EIDL and Other Disaster Loans until 2022,” March 12, 2021, at
https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/mar/16/sba-extends-deferment -period-all-covid-19-eidl-other-disaster-loans-until-
2022.
21 EIDL applicants that applied for a COVID-19-related EIDL prior to March 30, 2020, were required to reapply for an
Emergency EIDL Advance Payment grant.
22 SBA, “Statement by Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza on the Paycheck Protection Program and
Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.”
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eligibility to previously ineligible agricultural businesses. The SBA began accepting new EIDL
and Emergency EIDL grant applications on a limited basis on May 4, 2020, to accommodate
these agricultural businesses. The SBA also processed applications from agricultural businesses
that had submitted an EIDL application prior to the legislative change. Al other EIDL loan
applications that were submitted before the SBA stopped accepting new applications on April 15,
2020, continued to be processed on a first-in, first-out basis. The SBA resumed the acceptance of
new EIDL and EIDL advance payment applications from al borrowers on June 15, 2020.23
On July 11, 2020, the SBA stopped accepting Emergency EIDL grant applications because the
program had reached its authorization limit of $20 bil ion in grants.24 The SBA approved
5,781,390 Emergency EIDL grant applications.25 As of September 15, 2021, the SBA had
approved 3,833,654 COVID-19-related EIDL loans, totaling $266.5 bil ion.26
P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act
(Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021), enacted on Dec ember 27,
2020, among other provisions,
 extended the covered period for Emergency EIDL advance payments (grants)
from December 31, 2020, to December 31, 2021, extended the time for the SBA
to approve and disburse the funds from three to 21 days, and repealed the
requirement that borrowers deduct the amount of their EIDL advance payment
from their PPP loan forgiveness amount if the advance payment was refinanced
into their PPP loan; and
 appropriated $20 bil ion for a Targeted EIDL advance payment (grant) program
that provides a $10,000 advance payment to borrowers located in low-income
communities that have suffered a revenue loss greater than 30% over specified
time periods and have no more than 300 employees; applicants that meet these
requirements and received an Emergency EIDL advance payment previously are
eligible to receive an amount equal to the difference of what the borrower
received and $10,000. The SBA is required to provide first priority in awarding
the grants to eligible borrowers located in low-income communities that received
an Emergency EIDL advance payment of less than $10,000 previously, and
second priority to eligible first-time applicants located in low-income
communities.

23 SBA, “SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Advance Program Reopened to All Eligible Small Businesses
and Non-Profits Impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic,” June 15, 2020, at https://www.sba.gov/about -sba/sba-newsroom/
press-releases-media-advisories/sbas-economic-injury-disaster-loans-and-advance-program-reopened-all-eligible-
small-businesses-and?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
24 SBA, “SBA provided $20 billion to Small Businesses and Non-Profits T hrough the Emergency Economic Injury
Disaster Loan Advance Program,” press release, July 11, 2020, at https://www.sba.gov/about -sba/sba-newsroom/press-
releases-media-advisories/sba-provided-20-billion-small-businesses-and-non-profits-through-economic-injury-disaster-
loan.
As of April 24, 2020, the SBA had approved nearly 1.2 million Emergency EIDL grants, totaling $4.8 billion . See
SBA, “COVID-19 EIDL Advance Reports, April 24, 2020,” at https://www.sba.gov/document/report-covid-19-eidl-
advance-report -04-24-20.
25 SBA, “ Disaster Assistance Update Nationwide EIDL Loans July 15, 2020 (figures as of July 14, 2020),” at
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/EIDL%20COVID-19%20Advance%207.15.20.pdf.
26 SBA, “SBA Disaster Assistance Update Nationwide EIDL, T argeted EIDL Advances, Supplemental T argeted
Advances, September 16, 2021 (figures as of September 15, 2021),” at https://www.sba.gov/document/report-covid-19-
eidl-loans-report-2021.
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P.L. 117-2 appropriated an additional $53.6 bil ion for SBA program enhancements, including
$10 bil ion for the Targeted EIDL advance payment (grant) program, $5 bil ion for the Targeted
EIDL advance payment supplemental (grant) program, and $460 mil ion for the disaster loan
program ($70 mil ion for disaster loan credit subsidies and $390 mil ion for administrative costs).
As of September 15, 2021, the SBA had funded 419,255 Targeted EIDL advance payment grants,
totaling over $3.6 bil ion; and 333,918 Targeted EIDL advance payment supplemental grants,
totaling over $1.6 bil ion.27
Capital Access Programs
Overview
The SBA has authority to make direct loans but, with the exception of disaster loans and loans to
Microloan program intermediaries, has not exercised that authority since 1998.28 The SBA
indicated that it stopped issuing direct business loans primarily because the subsidy rate was “10
to 15 times higher” than the subsidy rate for its loan guaranty programs.29 Instead of making
direct loans, the SBA guarantees loans issued by approved lenders to encourage those lenders to
provide loans to smal businesses “that might not otherwise obtain financing on reasonable terms
and conditions.”30 With few exceptions, to qualify for SBA assistance, an organization must be
both a business and smal .31
What Is a Small Business?
To participate in any of the SBA programs, a business must meet the Smal Business Act’s
definition of small business. This is a business that
 is organized for profit;
 has a place of business in the United States;

27 SBA, “SBA Disaster Assistance Update Nationwide EIDL, T argeted EIDL Advances, Supplemental T argeted
Advances, September 16, 2021 (figures as of September 15, 2021),” at https://www.sba.gov/document/report-covid-19-
eidl-loans-report -2021.
28 Prior to October 1, 1985, the SBA provided direct business loans to qualified small businesses. From October 1,
1985, to September 30, 1994, SBA direct business loan eligibility was limited to qualified small businesses owned by
individuals with low incomes or located in areas of high unemployment, owned by Vietnam-era or disabled veterans,
owned by the handicapped or certain organizations employing them, and certified under the minority small business
capital ownership development program. Microloan program intermediaries were also eligible. On October 1, 1994,
SBA direct loan eligibility was limited to Microloan program intermediaries and small businesses owned by the
handicapped. Funding to support direct loans to the handicapped through the Handicapped Assistance (renamed the
Disabled Assistance) Loan program ended in 1996. T he last loan under the Disabled Assistance L oan program was
issued in FY1998. See U.S. Congress, House Committee on Small Business, Sum m ary of Activities, 105rd Cong., 2nd
sess., January 2, 1999, H.Rept. 105-849 (Washington: GPO, 1999), p. 8.
29 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Small Business, Hearing on the Proposed Fiscal Year 1995 Budget for the
Sm all Business Adm inistration, 103rd Cong., 2nd sess., February 22, 1994, S. Hrg. 103-583 (Washington: GPO, 1994),
p. 20.
30 SBA, Fiscal Year 2010 Congressional Budget Justification, p. 30, at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/
Congressional_Budget_Justification_2010.pdf.
31 T he SBA provides financial assistance to nonprofit organizations to provide training to small business owners and to
provide loans to small businesses through the SBA Microloan program. Nonprofit child care centers are eligible to
participate in SBA’s Microloan program.
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 operates primarily within the United States or makes a significant contribution to
the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products,
materials, or labor;
 is independently owned and operated;
 is not dominant in its field on a national basis;32 and
 does not exceed size standards established, and updated periodical y, by the
SBA.33
The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form.
What Is Small?34
The SBA uses two measures to determine if a business is smal : SBA-derived industry specific
size standards or a combination of the business’s net worth and net income. For example,
businesses participating in the SBA’s 7(a) loan guaranty program are deemed smal if they either
meet the SBA’s industry-specific size standards for firms in 1,047 industrial classifications in 18
subindustry activities described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
or do not have more than $15 mil ion in tangible net worth and not more than $5 mil ion in
average net income after federal taxes (excluding any carryover losses) for the two full fiscal
years before the date of the application. Al of the company’s subsidiaries, parent companies, and
affiliates are considered in determining if it meets the size standard.35
The SBA’s industry size standards vary by industry, and they are based on one of the following
four measures: the firm’s (1) average annual receipts in the previous three (or five) years, (2)
number of employees, (3) asset size, or (4) for refineries, a combination of number of employees
and barrel per day refining capacity. Historical y, the SBA has used the number of employees to
determine if manufacturing and mining companies are smal and average annual receipts for most
other industries.
The SBA’s size standards are designed to encourage competition within each industry; they are
derived through an assessment of the following four economic factors: “average firm size,
average assets size as a proxy of start-up costs and entry barriers, the 4-firm concentration ratio as
a measure of industry competition, and size distribution of firms.”36 The SBA also considers the
ability of smal businesses to compete for federal contracting opportunities and, when necessary,
several secondary factors “as they are relevant to the industries and the interests of smal
businesses, including technological change, competition among industries, industry growth
trends, and impacts of size standard revisions on smal businesses.”37

32 13 C.F.R. §121.105.
33 P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, requires the SBA to conduct a detailed review of not less than
one-third of the SBA’s industry size standards every 18 months beginning on the new law’s date of enactment
(September 27, 2010) and ensure that each size standard is reviewed at least once every five years.
34 For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R40860, Small Business Size Standards: A Historical
Analysis of Contem porary Issues, by Robert Jay Dilger.
35 13 C.F.R. §121.201 and P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Act of 2010, §1116. Alternative Size Standards.
36 SBA, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, “SBA Size Standards Methodology,” April
2019, p. 29, at https://www.sba.gov/document/support—size-standards-methodology-white-paper (hereinafter cited as
SBA, “SBA Size Standards Methodology”).
37 SBA, “SBA Size Standards Methodology,” p. 1.
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Loan Guarantees
Overview
The SBA provides loan guarantees for smal businesses that cannot obtain credit elsewhere with
reasonable terms and conditions. Its largest loan guaranty programs are the 7(a) loan guaranty
program, the 504/CDC loan guaranty program, international trade and export promotion
programs, and the Microloan program.
The SBA’s loan guaranty programs require personal guarantees from borrowers and share the risk
of default with lenders by making the guaranty less than 100%. In the event of a default, the
borrower owes the amount contracted less the value of any collateral liquidated. The SBA can
attempt to recover the unpaid debt through administrative offset, salary offset, or IRS tax refund
offset. Most types of businesses are eligible for loan guarantees, but a few are not. A list of
ineligible businesses (such as insurance companies, real estate investment firms, firms involved in
financial speculation or pyramid sales, and businesses involved in il egal activities) is contained
in 13 C.F.R. Section 120.110.38 With one exception, nonprofit and charitable organizations are
also ineligible.39
As shown in the following tables, most of these programs charge fees to help offset program
costs, including costs related to loan defaults. In most instances, the fees are set in statute. For
example, for 7(a) loans with a maturity exceeding 12 months, the SBA is authorized to charge
lenders an up-front guaranty fee of up to 2% for the SBA guaranteed portion of loans of $150,000
or less, up to 3% for the SBA guaranteed portion of loans exceeding $150,000 but not more than
$700,000, and up to 3.5% for the SBA guaranteed portion of loans exceeding $700,000. Lenders
with a 7(a) loan that has a SBA guaranteed portion in excess of $1 mil ion can be charged an
additional fee not to exceed 0.25% of the guaranteed amount in excess of $1 mil ion.
7(a) loans are also subject to an ongoing servicing fee not to exceed 0.55% of the outstanding
balance of the guaranteed portion of the loan.40 In addition, lenders are authorized to collect fees
from borrowers to offset their administrative expenses.
In an effort to assist smal business owners, the SBA has, from time-to-time, reduced its fees. For
example, in FY2019, the SBA waived the annual service fee for 7(a) loans of $150,000 or less
made to smal businesses located in a rural area or a HUBZone and reduced the up-front one-time
guaranty fee for these loans from 2.0% to 0.6667% of the guaranteed portion of the loan.41

38 T itle 13 of the Code of Federal Regulations can be viewed at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
collectionCfr.action?selectedYearFrom=2016&go=Go.
39 P.L. 105-135, the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997, expanded the SBA’s Microloan program’s eligibility
to include borrowers establishing a nonprofit child care business.
40 15 U.S.C. §636(a)(23)(a).
41 SBA, “SBA Information Notice: 7(a) Fees Effective on October 1, 201 8,” at https://www.sba.gov/document/
information-notice-5000-180010-7a-fees-effective-october-1-2018.
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In addition, the SBA is required to waive the up-front, one-time guaranty fee on al veteran loans
under the 7(a) SBAExpress program.42 The maximum SBAExpress loan amount has been
increased from $350,000 to $1 mil ion (reverts to $500,000 on October 1, 2021).43
The SBA’s goal is to achieve a zero subsidy rate, meaning that the appropriation of budget
authority for new loan guaranties is not required.
As shown in Table 2, the SBA’s fees and proceeds from loan liquidations do not always generate
sufficient revenue to cover loan losses, resulting in the need for additional appropriations to
account for the shortfal .
Table 2. SBA Business Loan Subsidies, Authorized Amounts, FY2010-FY2022
($ in mil ions)
7(a) Loan
504/CDC Loan
Guaranty
Guaranty
Microloan
Fiscal Year
Program
Program
Program
Total Subsidy
2010
$80.00
$0.00
$3.00
$83.00
2011a
$79.84
$0.00
$2.99
$82.83
2012
$139.40
$67.70
$3.68
$210.78
2013b
$218.38
$97.87
$3.49
$319.74
2014
$0.00
$107.00
$4.60
$111.60
2015
$0.00
$45.00
$2.50
$47.50
2016
$0.00
$0.00
$3.34
$3.34
2017
$0.00
$0.00
$4.34
$4.34
2018
$0.00
$0.00
$3.44
$3.44
2019
$0.00
$0.00
$4.00
$4.00
2020c
$99.00
$0.00
$5.00
$104.00
2021d
$15.00
$0.00
$12.00
$27.00
2022 request
$0.00
$0.00
$6.00
$6.00
Sources: SBA, Congressional Justification (Summary of Credit Programs & Revolving Fund), various years, at
https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-performance/performance-budget-finances/congressional-budget-justification-
annual-performance-report; P.L. 111-117, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010; P.L. 112-10, the
Department of Defense and Ful -Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011; P.L. 112-74, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2012; P.L. 112-175, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013; SBA, “General
Statement Regarding the Implications of Sequestration;” P.L. 113-76, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014;
P.L. 113-235, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015; P.L. 114-113, the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2016; P.L. 115-31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017; P.L. 115-141, the

42 T he SBA had waived the up-front, one-time guaranty fee on all veteran loans under the 7(a) SBAExpress program
from January 1, 2014, through the end of FY2015. P.L. 114-38 made the SBAExpress program’s veteran fee waiver
permanent, except during any upcoming fiscal year for which the President’s budget, submitted to Congress, includes a
cost for the 7(a) program, in its entirety, that is above zero. T he SBA waived the fee, pursuant to P.L. 114-38, in
FY2016, FY2017, FY2018, and FY2019. P.L. 116-136, the CARES Act, removed the requirement that the cost for the
7(a) program is above zero.
43 P.L. 116-136, the CARES Act, temporarily increased the SBAExpress maximum loan amount from $350,000 to $1
million (scheduled to revert to $350,000 on January 1, 2021) . P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small
Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Division N, T itle III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021),
temporarily continued the SBAExpress maximum loan amount of $1 million. It is now scheduled to revert to $500,000
on October 1, 2021.
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Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018; P.L. 116-6, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019; P.L. 116-93, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020; P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; and U.S. Smal
Business Administration, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 8, at
https://www.sba.gov/document/report-congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-report.
a. In FY2011, there was a 0.2% across-the-board rescission. Before the rescission, the authorized subsidy
amounts were $80.0 mil ion for the 7(a) program, $0.0 for the 504/ Certified Development Companies
(CDC) program, and $3.0 mil ion for the Microloan program.
b. In FY2013, there was a 0.2% across-the-board rescission and sequestration. Before these reductions, the
authorized subsidy amounts were $225.5 mil ion for the 7(a) program, $108.1 mil ion for the 504/CDC
program, $3.678 mil ion for the Microloan program, and $337.278 mil ion total.
c. In FY2020, P.L. 116-136, the CARES Act, appropriated $366 bil ion for loan credit subsidies for the
Paycheck Protection Program ($349 bil ion) and SBA debt relief payments ($17 b il ion); and P.L. 116-139,
the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, appropriated $321.335 bil ion for loan
credit subsidies for the Paycheck Protection Program.
d. In FY2021, P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act
(Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021), appropriated $289.895 bil ion for
loan credit subsidies: $284.45 bil ion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $3.5 bil ion for SBA debt relief
payments, and $1.918 bil ion for SBA program enhancements. P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of
2021, appropriated an additional $7.25 bil ion for Paycheck Protection Program loan credit subsidies.
7(a) Loan Guaranty Program44
The 7(a) loan guaranty program is named after the section of the Smal Business Act that
authorizes it. These are loans made by SBA lending partners (mostly banks but also some other
financial institutions) and partial y guaranteed by the SBA.
In FY2020, the SBA approved 42,302 7(a) loans totaling $22.6 bil ion.45 In FY2020, there were
1,673 active lending partners providing 7(a) loans.46
The CARES Act appropriated $17 bil ion to pay the principal, interest, and any associated fees
owed on an existing 7(a) loan, 504/CDC loan, or Microloan and for loans subsequently approved
and fully disbursed prior to September 27, 2020, for a six-month period.47
P.L. 116-260 appropriated an additional $3.5 bil ion for SBA’s monthly debt relief payments,
capped at $9,000 per month per borrower. The SBA is authorized to provide up to an additional
eight monthly payments, depending on the availability of funds, when the loan was disbursed, the
type of loan received, and the business’s industry.
Because the SBA determined that the $3.5 bil ion provided is insufficient to make the maximum
number of monthly payments authorized in P.L. 116-260, the SBA announced that it wil pay two
additional monthly payments on 7(a) and 504/CDC loans that were in repayment before March
27, 2020, starting with the next payment due on or after February 1, 2021. After the first two
monthly payments are provided, businesses with an SBA Community Advantage loan, Microloan,
or operating in specified economical y hard-hit industries wil receive an additional three monthly

44 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R41146, Small Business Administration 7(a) Loan Guaranty
Program , by Robert Jay Dilger.
45 SBA, “SBA Lending Statistics for Major Programs (as of 9/30/20 20),” at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/
2020-10/WebsiteReport_asof_20200930-508.pdf.
46 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 39, at https://www.sba.gov/
document/report -congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-report (hereinafter SBA, FY2022
Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Perform ance Report).
47 Payments for loans in a regular servicing status begin on the next payment due. Payments for loa ns in deferment
begin on the next payment due following the deferment period.
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payments. Loans approved from February 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021, wil receive
three monthly payments beginning with the first payment due.48
P.L. 116-260 also temporarily waives SBA fees for the 7(a) and 504/CDC loan guarantee
programs and increases the 7(a) program’s current guaranty rate from 85% for loans of $150,000
or less and 75% for loans greater than $150,000 (up to a maximum guaranty of $3.75 mil ion—
75% of $5 mil ion) to 90% through October 1, 2021.
Lenders are permitted to charge borrowers fees to recoup specified expenses and are al owed to
charge borrowers “a reasonable fixed interest rate” or, with the SBA’s approval, a variable
interest rate.49 The SBA uses a multistep formula to determine the maximum al owable fixed
interest rate for al 7(a) loans (with the exception of the Export Working Capital Program and
Community Advantage loans) and periodical y publishes that rate and the maximum al owable
variable interest rate in the Federal Register.50
Maximum interest rates al owed on variable-rate 7(a) loans are pegged to either the prime rate,
the 30-day London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 3%, or the SBA optional peg rate,
which is a weighted average of rates that the federal government pays for loans with maturities
similar to the guaranteed loan. The al owed spread over the prime rate, LIBOR base rate, or SBA
optional peg rate depends on the loan amount and the loan’s maturity (under seven years or seven
years or more).51 The adjustment period can be no more than monthly and cannot change over the
life of the loan.
Table 3 provides information on the 7(a) program’s key features, including its eligible uses,
maximum loan amount, loan maturity, fixed interest rates, and guarantee fees.

48 SBA, “Adjustment to Number of Months of Section 1112 Payments in the 7(a), 504 and Microloan Programs Due to
Insufficiency of Funds,” SBA Procedural Notice, 5000-20095, February 16, 2021, at https://www.sba.gov/document/
procedural-notice-5000-20095-adjustment -number-months-section-1112-payments-7a-504-microloan-programs-due-
insufficiency-funds.
Economically hard-hit industries are defined as those assigned a North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) code beginning with 61, 71, 72, 213, 315, 448, 451, 481, 485, 487, 511, 512, 515, 532, or 812 (food service
and accommodation; arts, entertainment and recreation; education; and laundry and personal care services).
49 13 C.F.R. §120.213.
50 SBA, “Maximum Allowable 7(a) Fixed Interest Rates,” 83 Federal Register 55478, November 6, 2018. For the
previously used fixed interest rates formula, see SBA, “ Business Loan Program Maximum Allowable Fixed Rate,” 74
Federal Register 50263-50264, September 30, 2009. T he SBA has a separate formula for Community Advantage loan
interest rates and does not prescribe interest rates for the Export Working Capital Loans, but it does monitor the rates
charged for reasonableness.
51 SBA, “SOP 50 10 5(K): Lender and Development Company Loan Programs,” (effective April 1, 2019), p. 153, at
https://www.sba.gov/document/sop-50-10-5-lender-development-company-loan-programs.
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Table 3. Summary of the 7(a) Loan Guaranty Program’s Key Features
Key Feature
Program Summary
Use of Proceeds
Fixed assets, working capital, financing of start-ups, or to purchase an existing
business; some debt payment al owed, but lender’s loan exposure may not be
reduced with the Express products. Lines of credit are offered with the Express
programs.
Maximum Loan Amount
$5 mil ion.
Maturity
5 years to 7 years for working capital, up to 25 years for equipment and real estate.
Al other loan purposes have a maximum term of 10 years.
Maximum Fixed Interest
For fixed rate loans of $25,000 or less, prime plus 800 basis points; for fixed rate
Rates
loans over $25,000 but not exceeding $50,000, prime plus 700 basis points; for
fixed rate loans greater than $50,000 but not exceeding $250,000, prime plus 600
basis points; and for fixed rate loans over $250,000, prime plus 500 basis points.
Guaranty Fees
For loans with a maturity of 12 months or less, the SBA normal y charges an up-
front guaranty fee of 0.25% of the guaranteed portion of the loan (0% in FY2021).
For loans with maturities of more than 12 months, the SBA is authorized to charge
an up-front guaranty fee on the guaranteed portion of the loan of: up to 2% for
loans of $150,000 or less (0% in FY2021); up to 3% for loans of $150,001 to
$700,000 (0% in FY2021); up to 3.5% for loans of more than $700,000 (0% in
FY2021); and up to 3.75% for the guaranty portion over $1 mil ion (0% in FY2021).
The SBA is also al owed to charge an ongoing, annual servicing fee of up to 0.55%
(0% in FY2021).
Job Creation
No job creation requirements.
Sources: Table compiled by CRS from data from the SBA; and P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit
Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2021).
Notes: In FY2019, the SBA waived the annual service fee for 7(a) loans of $150,000 or less made to smal
businesses located in a rural area or a HUBZone; and reduced the up-front one-time guaranty fee for these loans
from 2.0% to 0.6667% of the guaranteed portion of the loan. The SBA also waived the up-front, one-time loan
guaranty fee for al veteran loans under the 7(a) SBAExpress program because the FY2019 subsidy rate for the
7(a) program was zero.
Variations on the 7(a) Program
The 7(a) program has several specialized programs that offer streamlined and expedited loan
procedures for particular groups of borrowers, including the SBAExpress program (for loans of
up to $1 mil ion (reverts to $500,000 on October 1, 2021), the Export Express program (for loans
of up to $500,000 for entering or expanding an existing export market), and the Community
Advantage pilot program (for loans of $250,000 or less). The SBA also has a Smal Loan
Advantage program (for loans of $350,000 or less), but it is currently being used as the 7(a)
program’s model for processing loans of $350,000 or less and exists as a separate, specialized
program in name only.
The SBAExpress program was established as a pilot program by the SBA on February 27, 1995,
and made permanent through legislation, subject to reauthorization, in 2004 (P.L. 108-447, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005). The program is designed to increase the availability of
credit to smal businesses by permitting lenders to use their existing documentation and
procedures in return for receiving a reduced SBA guarantee on loans. It normal y provides a 50%
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loan guarantee on loan amounts of $350,000 or less.52 As mentioned, the CARES Act temporarily
increased the SBAExpress maximum loan amount from $350,000 to $1 mil ion until January 1,
2021. P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act
(Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021), continues that temporary
increase until October 1, 2021. At that time, the program’s maximum loan amount wil increase
permanently from $350,000 to $500,000.
SBAExpress loan proceeds can be used for the same purposes as the 7(a) program, except
participant debt restructuring cannot exceed 50% of the project and may be used for revolving
credit. The program’s fees and loan terms are the same as the 7(a) program, except the term for a
revolving line of credit cannot exceed seven years.
The Community Advantage pilot program began operations on February 15, 2011, and is limited
to mission-focused lenders targeting underserved markets. Original y scheduled to cease
operations on March 15, 2014, the program has been extended several times and is currently
scheduled to operate through September 30, 2022.53 As of September 12, 2018, there were 113
approved CA lenders, 99 of which were actively making and servicing CA loans.54 The SBA
placed a moratorium, effective October 1, 2018, on accepting new CA lender applications,
primarily as a means to mitigate the risk of future loan defaults.55
Lenders must receive SBA approval to participate in these 7(a) specialized programs.
Special Purpose Loan Guaranty Programs
In addition to the 7(a) loan guaranty program, the SBA has special purpose loan guaranty
programs for smal businesses adjusting to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
to support Employee Stock Ownership Program trusts, pollution control facilities, and working
capital.
Community Adjustment and Investment Program. The Community Adjustment and Investment
Program (CAIP) uses federal funds to pay the fees on 7(a) and 504/CDC loans to businesses
located in communities that have been adversely affected by NAFTA.
Employee Trusts. The SBA wil guarantee loans to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
that are used either to lend money to the employer or to purchase control from the owner. ESOPs
must meet regulations established by the IRS, Department of the Treasury, and Department of
Labor. These are 7(a) loans.
Pollution Control. In 1976, the SBA was provided authorization to guarantee the payment of
rentals or other amounts due under qualified contracts for pollution control facilities. P.L. 100-
590, the Smal Business Reauthorization and Amendment Act of 1988, eliminated the revolving

52 P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, temporarily increased the SBAExpress program’s loan limit to
$1 million for one year following enactment (through September 26, 2011).
53 SBA, “Community Advantage Pilot Program,” 77 Federal Register 67433, November 9, 2012; SBA, “Community
Advantage Pilot Program,” 80 Federal Register 80873, December 28, 2015; and SBA, “ Community Advantage Pilot
Program,” 83 Federal Register 46238, September 12, 2018.
54 SBA, “Community Advantage Pilot Program,” 83 Federal Register 46238, September 12, 2018.
55 T he SBA indicated that “ Given the increased risk of CA loans as compared to other 7(a) loans, the need for more
resource-intensive oversight of CA Lenders, and the fact that the CA Pilot Program already includes a sufficient
number of geographically dispersed CA Lenders, SBA has decided to place a moratorium on acceptance of new CA
Lender applications. Effective October 1, 2018, SBA will no longer accept CA Lender Applications (SBA Form
2301).” See SBA, “ Community Advantage Pilot Program,” 83 Federal Register 46239, Sept ember 12, 2018.
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fund for pollution control guaranteed loans and transferred its remaining funds to the SBA’s
business loan and investment revolving fund. Since 1989, loans for pollution control have been
guaranteed under the 7(a) loan guaranty program.
CAPLines. CAPLines are five special 7(a) loan guaranty programs designed to meet the
requirements of smal businesses for short-term or cyclical working capital. The maximum term
is five years.
The 504/CDC Loan Guaranty Program56
The 504/CDC loan guaranty program uses Certified Development Companies (CDCs), which are
private, nonprofit corporations established to contribute to economic development within their
communities. Each CDC has its own geographic territory. The program provides long-term,
fixed-rate loans for major fixed assets such as land, structures, machinery, and equipment.
Program loans cannot be used for working capital, inventory, or repaying debt. A commercial
lender provides up to 50% of the financing package, which is secured by a senior lien. The
CDC’s loan of up to 40% is secured by a junior lien. The SBA backs the CDC with a guaranteed
debenture.57 The smal business must contribute at least 10% as equity.
To participate in the program, smal businesses cannot exceed $15 mil ion in tangible net worth
and cannot have average net income of more than $5 mil ion for two full fiscal years before the
date of application. Also, CDCs must intend to create or retain one job for every $75,000 of the
debenture ($120,000 for smal manufacturers) or meet an alternative job creation standard if they
meet any one of 15 community or public policy goals.
In FY2020, the SBA approved 7,199 504/CDC loans totaling over $5.8 bil ion.58 In FY2020, 208
CDCs provided at least one 504/CDC loan.59
As mentioned, the CARES Act appropriated $17 bil ion to pay the principal, interest, and any
associated fees that are owed on an existing 7(a) loan, 504/CDC loan, or Microloan and for loans
subsequently approved and fully disbursed prior to September 27, 2020, for a six-month period.60
P.L. 116-260 appropriated an additional $3.5 bil ion for up to eight monthly debt relief payments,
capped at $9,000 per month per borrower. Because the SBA determined that the $3.5 bil ion
provided is insufficient to make the maximum number of payments authorized in P.L. 116-260,
the SBA announced that it wil pay two additional monthly payments on 7(a) and 504/CDC loans
that were in repayment before March 27, 2020, starting with the next payment due on or after
February 1, 2021. After the first two monthly payments are provided, businesses with an SBA
Community Advantage loan, Microloan, or operating in specified economical y hard-hit
industries wil receive an additional three monthly payments. Loans approved from February 1,

56 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R41184, Small Business Administration 504/CDC Loan
Guaranty Program , by Robert Jay Dilger.
57 A debenture is a bond that is not secured by a lien on specific collateral.
58 SBA, “SBA Lending Statistics for Major Programs (as of 9/30/2020),” at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/
2020-10/WebsiteReport_asof_20200930-508.pdf.
59 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 40.
60 7(a) loans, 504/CDC loans, and Microloans that are already on deferment received six months of payment by the
SBA beginning with the first payment after the deferral period. Loans made up until six months after enactment also
received a full six months of SBA loan payments.
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2021, through September 30, 2021, wil receive three monthly payments beginning with the first
payment due.61
Table 4 summarizes the 504/CDC loan guaranty program’s key features.
Table 4. Summary of the 504/CDC Loan Guaranty Program’s Key Features
Key Feature
Program Summary
Use of Proceeds
Fixed assets only—no working capital.
Maximum Loan Amount
Maximum 504/CDC participation in a single project is $5 mil ion and $5.5 mil ion for
manufacturers and specified energy-related projects; minimum is $25,000. There is no
limit on the project size.
Maturity
10 years for equipment; 20 or 25 years for real estate. Unguaranteed financing may
have a shorter term.
Maximum Interest Rates
Fixed rate is established when the debenture backing the loan is sold and is pegged to
an increment above the current market rate for 5-year and 10-year U.S. Treasury
issues.
Participation
504/CDC projects general y have three main participants: a third-party lender
Requirements
provides 50% or more of the financing; a CDC provides up to 40% of the financing
through a 504/CDC debenture, which is guaranteed 100% by the SBA; and the
borrower contributes at least 10% of the financing. For good cause shown, the SBA
may authorize an increase in the CDC’s percentage of project costs covered up to
50%. No more than 50% of eligible costs can be from federal sources.
Guaranty Fees
The SBA is authorized to charge CDCs a one-time, up-front guaranty fee of up to
0.5% of the debenture (0% in FY2021), an annual servicing fee of up to 0.9375% of the
unpaid principal balance (0% for regular 504/CDC loans and 0% for 504/CDC debt
refinance loans in FY2021), a funding fee (not to exceed 0.25% of the debenture), an
annual development company fee (0.125% of the debenture’s outstanding principal
balance), and a one-time participation fee (0.5% of the senior mortgage loan if in a
senior lien position to the SBA and the loan was approved after September 30, 1996).
In addition, CDCs are al owed to charge borrowers a processing (or packaging) fee of
up to 1.5% of the net debenture proceeds and a closing fee, servicing fee, late fee,
assumption fee, Central Servicing Agent (CSA) fee, other agent fees, and an
underwriters’ fee.
Job Creation
Must intend to create or retain one job for every $75,000 of the debenture
Requirements
($120,000 for smal manufacturers) or meet an alternative job creation standard if it
meets any one of 15 community or public policy goals.
Sources: Table compiled by CRS from data from the SBA; U.S. Smal Business Administration, “SBA Information
Notice: 5000-20045, 504 Fees Effective During Fiscal Year 2021,” September 15, 2020; and P.L. 116-260, the
Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Division N, Title III of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021).
Notes: The maximum loan amount is the total financial package, including the commercial loan and the CDC
loan. It does not include the owner’s minimum 10% equity contribution. It assumes the CDC loan is 40% of the
total package.

61 SBA, “Adjustment to Number of Months of Section 1112 Payments in the 7(a), 504 and Microloan Programs Due to
Insufficiency of Funds,” SBA Procedural Notice, 5000-20095, February 16, 2021, at https://www.sba.gov/document/
procedural-notice-5000-20095-adjustment -number-months-section-1112-payments-7a-504-microloan-programs-due-
insufficiency-funds.
Economically hard-hit industries are defined as those assigned a North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) code beginning with 61, 71, 72, 213, 315, 448, 451, 481, 485, 487, 511, 512, 515, 532, or 812 (food service
and accommodation; arts, entertainment and recreation; education; and laundry and personal care services).
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International Trade and Export Pr omotion Programs62
Although any of SBA’s loan guaranty programs can be used by firms looking to begin exporting
or expanding their current exporting operations, the SBA has three loan programs that specifical y
focus on trade and export promotion:
1. Export Express loan program provides working capital or fixed asset financing
for firms that wil begin or expand exporting. It offers a 90% guaranty on loans
of $350,000 or less and a 75% guaranty on loans of $350,001 to $500,000.
2. Export Working Capital loan program provides financing to support export
orders or the export transaction cycle, from purchase order to final payment. It
offers a 90% guaranty of loans up to $5 mil ion.
3. International Trade loan program provides long-term financing to support firms
that are expanding because of growing export sales or have been adversely
affected by imports and need to modernize to meet foreign competition. It offers
a 90% guaranty on loans up to $5 mil ion.63
In many ways, the SBA’s trade and export promotion loan programs share similar characteristics
with other SBA loan guaranty programs. For example, the Export Express program resembles the
SBAExpress program. The SBAExpress program shares several characteristics with the standard
7(a) loan guarantee program except that the SBAExpress program has an expedited approval
process, a lower maximum loan amount, and a smal er percentage of the loan guaranteed.
Similarly, the Export Express program shares several of the characteristics of the standard
International Trade loan program, such as an expedited approval process in exchange for a lower
maximum loan amount ($500,000 compared with $5 mil ion) and a lower percentage of guaranty.
In addition, the SBA administers grants through the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP),
which are awarded to states to execute export programs that assist smal business concerns (such
as a trade show exhibition, training workshops, or a foreign trade mission). Initial y, the STEP
program was authorized for three years and appropriated $30 mil ion annual y in FY2011 and
FY2012. Congress approved $8 mil ion in appropriations for STEP in FY2014, $17.4 mil ion in
FY2015, $18 mil ion annual y in FY2016-FY2019, $19 mil ion in FY2020, and $19.5 mil ion in
FY2021.64
The Microloan Program65
The Microloan program provides direct loans to qualified nonprofit intermediary Microloan
lenders that, in turn, provide “microloans” of up to $50,000 to smal businesses and nonprofit
child care centers. Microloan lenders also provide marketing, management, and technical
assistance to Microloan borrowers and potential borrowers.

62 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R43155, Small Business Administration Trade and Export
Prom otion Program s, by Sean Lowry.
63 T he International T rade loan program limits its guaranty for working capital to $4 million ($4.444 million gross loan
amount).
64 P.L. 114-125, the T rade Facilitation and T rade Enforcement Act of 2015, provided the ST EP program explicit
statutory authorization and authorized to be appropriated $30 million for ST EP grants from FY2016 through FY2020.
T he act also included provisions intended to improve coordination between th e federal government and the states,
among other provisions.
65 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R41057, Small Business Administration Microloan Program ,
by Robert Jay Dilger.
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The program was authorized in 1991 as a five-year demonstration project and became operational
in 1992. It was made permanent, subject to reauthorization, by P.L. 105-135, the Smal Business
Reauthorization Act of 1997. Although the program is open to al smal businesses, it targets new
and early stage businesses in underserved markets, including borrowers with little to no credit
history, low-income borrowers, and women and minority entrepreneurs in both rural and urban
areas who general y do not qualify for conventional loans or other, larger SBA guaranteed loans.
In FY2020, microloan intermediaries provided 5,890 loans to smal businesses totaling $85
mil ion. The average Microloan amount was $14,434.66
As mentioned, the CARES Act appropriated $17 bil ion to pay the principal, interest, and any
associated fees that are owed on an existing 7(a) loan, 504/CDC loan, or Microloan and for loans
subsequently approved and fully disbursed prior to September 27, 2020, for a six-month period.67
P.L. 116-260 appropriated an additional $3.5 bil ion for up to eight monthly debt relief payments,
capped at $9,000 per month per borrower. Because the SBA determined that the $3.5 bil ion
provided is insufficient to make the maximum number of payments authorized in P.L. 116-260,
the SBA announced that it wil pay two additional monthly payments on 7(a) and 504/CDC loans
that were in repayment before March 27, 2020, starting with the next payment due on or after
February 1, 2021. After the first two monthly payments are provided, businesses with an SBA
Community Advantage loan, Microloan, or operating in specified economical y hard-hit
industries wil receive an additional three monthly payments. Loans approved from February 1,
2021, through September 30, 2021, wil receive three monthly payments beginning with the first
payment due.68
Table 5 summarizes the Microloan program’s key features.
Table 5. Summary of the Microloan Program’s Key Features
Key Feature
Program Summary
Use of proceeds
Working capital and acquisition of materials, supplies, furniture, fixtures, and
equipment. Loans cannot be made to acquire land or property.
Maximum Loan Amount
$50,000.
Maturity
Up to eight years in FY2021 (reverts to seven years in FY2022).

66 SBA, “ Nationwide Loan Report, October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2020,” November 18, 2020 .
67 7(a) loans, 504/CDC loans, and Microloans that are already on deferment received six months of payment by the
SBA beginning with the first payment after the deferral period. Loans made up until six months after enactment also
received a full six months of SBA loan payments.
68 SBA, “Adjustment to Number of Months of Section 1112 Payments in the 7(a), 504 and Microloan Programs Due to
Insufficiency of Funds,” SBA Procedural Notice, 5000-20095, February 16, 2021, at https://www.sba.gov/document/
procedural-notice-5000-20095-adjustment -number-months-section-1112-payments-7a-504-microloan-programs-due-
insufficiency-funds.
Economically hard-hit industries are defined as those assigned a North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) code beginning with 61, 71, 72, 213, 315, 448, 451, 481, 485, 487, 511, 512, 515, 532, or 812 (food service
and accommodation; arts, entertainment and recreation; education; and laundry and personal care services).
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Key Feature
Program Summary
Maximum Interest Rates
The SBA charges intermediaries an interest rate that is based on the five-year
Treasury rate, adjusted to the nearest one-eighth percent (cal ed the Base Rate),
less 1.25% if the intermediary maintains a historic portfolio of Microloans averaging
more than $10,000 and less 2.0% if the intermediary maintains a historic portfolio
of Microloans averaging $10,000 or less. The Base Rate, after adjustment, is cal ed
the Intermediary’s Cost of Funds. The Intermediary’s Cost of Funds is initial y
calculated one year from the date of the note and is reviewed annual y and
adjusted as necessary (cal ed recasting). The interest rate cannot be less than zero.
On loans of more than $10,000, the maximum interest rate that can be charged to
the borrower is the interest rate charged by the SBA on the loan to the
intermediary, plus 7.75%. On loans of $10,000 or less, the maximum interest rate
that can be charged to the borrower is the interest charged by the SBA on the
loan to the intermediary, plus 8.5%. Rates are negotiated between the borrower
and the intermediary and typical y range from 7% to 9%.
Guaranty Fees
The SBA does not charge intermediaries up-front or ongoing service fees under
the Microloan program.
Job Creation Requirements
No job creation requirements.
Source: Table compiled by CRS from data from the SBA. For information related to the Microloan loan
maturity being increased from six years to seven years, see SBA, “Express Loan Programs; Affiliation Standards,”
85 Federal Register 7632, February 10, 2020; SBA, “Regulatory Reform Initiative: Streamlining and Modernizing the
7(a), Microloan, and 504 Loan Programs to Reduce Unnecessary Regulatory Burden,” 85 Federal Register 80676-
80686, December 14, 2020; and P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses, Nonprofits, and
Venues Act (Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021), §329.
Paycheck Protection Program69
The CARES Act, among other provisions, created the $349 bil ion (later increased to $813.7
bil ion) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide loans with a 100% SBA loan guarantee, a
maximum term of 10 years, and an interest rate not to exceed 4% to assist smal businesses, smal
501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, and smal 501(c)(19) veterans organizations that have been
adversely affected by COVID-19.70 The act also provides for loan deferment and forgiveness
under specified conditions. The SBA announced that PPP loans wil have a two-year term at 1%
interest.71
PPP loans are not subject to the 7(a) loan program’s up-front loan guarantee fee or annual
servicing fee, the no credit elsewhere requirement, or 7(a) collateral and personal guarantee
requirements. Also, PPP eligibility includes 7(a) eligible businesses and any business, 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization, 501(c)(19) veterans organization, or tribal business not currently eligible
that has not more than 500 employees or, if applicable, the SBA’s size standard for the industry in
which they operate. Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and eligible self-employed
individuals are also eligible.72

69 For further information and analysis of the PPP, see CRS Report R46284, COVID-19 Relief Assistance to Small
Businesses: Issues and Policy Options, by Robert Jay Dilger, Bruce R. Lindsay, and Sean Lowry .
70 For additional information and analysis of the SBA provisions in P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (CARES Act), see CRS Report R46284, COVID-19 Relief Assistance to Sm all Businesses:
Issues and Policy Options, by Robert Jay Dilger, Bruce R. Lindsay, and Sean Lowry .
71 P.L. 116-142, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, among other provisions, established a
minimum PPP loan maturity of five years for loans made on or after the date of enactment (June 5, 2020).
72 For purposes of determining not more than 500 employees, the term employee includes individuals employed on a
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The maximum PPP loan amount is the lesser of (1) 2.5 times the average total monthly payments
by the applicant for payroll costs incurred during the one-year period before the date on which the
loan is made plus the outstanding balance of any 7(a) loan (made on or after January 31, 2020)
that is refinanced into the PPP loan; or (2) $10 mil ion.
The SBA started accepting PPP loan applications on April 3, 2020. Because the program neared
its $349 bil ion authorization limit, the SBA stopped accepting new PPP loan applications on
April 15, 2020.73 The SBA started accepting applications once again on April 27, 2020, following
enactment of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (P.L. 116-139)
on April 24, 2020. The act increased the PPP loan authorization limit from $349 bil ion to $659
bil ion, and appropriated an additional $321.335 bil ion to support that level of lending.
As required by the CARES Act, the SBA stopped accepting new PPP loan applications at
midnight on June 30, 2020. The SBA resumed accepting PPP loan applications on July 6, 2020,
following enactment of P.L. 116-147, to extend the authority for commitments for the paycheck
protection program. The act extended the PPP covered loan period from June 30, 2020, to August
8, 2020, and authorized $659 bil ion for PPP loan commitments and $30 bil ion for 7(a) loan
commitments. As required by this act, the SBA stopped accepting new PPP loan applications on
August 8, 2020.
As of August 8, 2020, the SBA had approved, after cancel ations, 5,212,128 PPP loans totaling
more than $525 bil ion.74 For comparative purposes, that loan approval amount is more than the
amount the SBA had approved in al of its loan programs, including disaster loans, during the
previous 29 years (from October 1, 1991, through December 31, 2019; $509.9 bil ion).75
House and Senate leaders continued negotiations on legislation to reopen and amend the PPP
throughout the summer and fal . P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Smal Businesses,
Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Division N, Title III of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2021), enacted on December 27, 2020, among other provisions,
 extended the PPP loan covered period from August 8, 2020, to March 31, 2021;
 expanded the list of al owable uses of proceeds and loan forgiveness to include
personal protective equipment, supplier costs, payments for software, cloud
computing, and other human resources and accounting needs, and costs related to
property damage from public disturbances that occurred in 2020 that are not
covered by insurance;

full-time, part -time, or other basis. Also, special eligibility considerations are provided for certain businesses and
organizations. For example, businesses operating in NAICS Sector 72 (Accommodation and Food Services industry)
that employ not more than 500 employees per physical location are also eligible for a covered loan. Affiliation rules are
also waived for: (1) NAICS Sector 72 businesses, (2) franchises, and (3) SBIC-owned businesses. In other words, these
businesses would not be denied a covered loan solely because they employ more than 500 employees across multiple
businesses under common ownership.
73 SBA, “Statement by Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza on the Paycheck Protection Program and
Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program,” April 15, 2020, at https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-
releases-media-advisories/statement -secretary-mnuchin-and-administrator-carranza-paycheck-protection-program-and-
economic (hereinafter SBA, “ Statement by Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza on the Paycheck Protection
Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.”)
74 SBA, “ Additional Program Information: approvals as of August 8, 2020,” at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/
loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program.
75 SBA, “WDS Lending Data File,” October 18, 2019; and SBA, “Small Business Administration loan program
performance: T able 2 - Gross Approval Amount by Program, March 31, 2020,” at https://www.sba.gov/document/
report -small-business-administration-loan-program-performance.
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 al owed borrowers to select a PPP loan forgiveness covered period of either 8
weeks after the loan’s origination date or 24 weeks after the loan’s origination
date regardless of when the loan was disbursed;
 created a simplified loan forgiveness application process for loans of $150,000 or
less, which includes an application form that is not more than one page in length
and only requires borrowers to provide a description of the number of employees
the borrower was able to retain because of the loan, the estimated amount of the
loan amount spent on payroll costs, and the total loan amount;
 al owed PPP borrowers that have fewer than 300 employees, have or wil use the
full amount of their PPP loan, and can document quarterly revenue losses of at
least 25% in the first, second, or third quarter of 2020 relative to the same quarter
of 2019 to receive a second-draw PPP loan of up to $2 mil ion; and
 increased the PPP loan authorization level from $659 bil ion to $806.45 bil ion.
The SBA reopened the PPP online application portal on January 11, 2021.76 In an effort to
promote PPP loan access for minority, underserved, veteran, and women-owned smal businesses,
the SBA initial y restricted access to the PPP application portal to community financial
institutions seeking first-draw PPP loans (on January 11 and 12) and second-draw PPP loans (on
January 13).77 Community financial institutions are general y recognized as more likely to serve
these populations than are other lending institutions.
The SBA reopened the PPP loan portal to PPP-eligible lenders with $1 bil ion or less in assets on
January 15, 2021, and to al PPP-eligible lenders on January 19, 2021.78
In addition, in an effort to enhance PPP access for smal er entities, the SBA restricted PPP loan
applications to businesses and nonprofit organizations with fewer than 20 employees for 14 days,
from February 24, 2021, through March 9, 2021.79 The SBA also announced several regulatory
changes, effective the first week in March 2021, to “advance equity goals,” including revising the
formula that determines the loan amount for sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-
employed individuals to enable them to receive more financial support;80 establishing a $1 bil ion
set aside for sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals that do not
have employees and are located in low- and moderate-income areas; and making it clear that legal
U.S. residents who are not citizens are eligible and if they use an Individual Taxpayer

76 SBA, “ SBA and T reasury Announce PPP Re-Opening; Issue New Guidance,” January 8, 2021.
77 SBA, “Guidance on Accessing Capital for Minority, Underserved, Veteran and Women -Owned Business Concerns,”
January 6, 2021, at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/
Guidance%20on%20Accessing%20Capital%20for%20Minority%20Underserved%20Veteran%20and%20Women%20
Owned%20Business%20Concerns%20.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery; and SBA, “ SBA and
T reasury Announce PPP Re-Opening; Issue New Guidance,” January 8, 2021.
78 SBA, “ SBA Re-Opening Paycheck Protection Program to Small Lenders on Friday, January 15 and All Lenders on
T uesday, January 19,” at https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/jan/13/sba-re-opening-paycheck-protection-program-small-
lenders-friday-january-15-all-lenders-tuesday.
79 SBA, “Biden Administration takes steps to promote equitable access to SBA Relief,” February 22, 2021, at
https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources.
80 Previously, “PPP rules defined payroll costs for individuals who file an IRS Form 1040, Schedule C as payroll costs
(if employees exist) plus net profits, which is net earnings from self -employment.” Effective March 4, 2021, these
individuals (the self-employed, sole proprietors, and independent contractors) “ may elect to calculate the owner
compensation share of its payroll costs—that is, the share of its payroll costs that represents compensation of the
owner—based on either (i) net profit or (ii) gross income.” See SBA, “ Business Loan Program T emporary Changes;
Paycheck Protection Program – Revisions to Loan Amount Calculation and Eligibility,” 86 Federal Register 13149-
13156, March 8, 2021.
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Identification Number (ITIN) to pay their taxes they may use their ITIN as an identifier when
applying for a PPP loan.81
P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, enacted on March 11, 2021, among other
provisions, appropriated an additional $7.25 bil ion for the PPP to increase its authorization
amount to $813.7 bil ion. P.L. 117-6, the PPP Extension Act of 2021, extended the acceptance of
PPP applications through May 31, 2021, and authorized the SBA to process any pending
applications submitted on or before that date through June 30, 2021.
As of September 12, 2021, the SBA had issued 11,496,362 PPP loans totaling $792.7 bil ion and
received more than 6.7 mil ion applications for loan forgiveness totaling $549.7 bil ion.82
Entrepreneurial Development Programs83
The SBA’s entrepreneurial development (ED) noncredit programs provide a variety of
management and training services to smal businesses. Initial y, the SBA provided its own
management and technical assistance training programs. Over time, the SBA has come to rely
increasingly on third parties to provide that training.
The SBA receives appropriations for seven ED programs and two ED initiatives:
 Smal Business Development Centers (SBDCs);
 the Microloan Technical Assistance Program;
 Women Business Centers (WBCs);
 SCORE;
 the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME);
 Veterans Programs (including Veterans Business Outreach Centers, Boots to
Business, Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship [VWISE],
Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, and Boots to
Business: Reboot);
 the Native American Outreach Program (NAO);
 the Entrepreneurial Development (Regional Innovation Clusters) initiative; and
 the Entrepreneurship Education (Emerging Leaders) initiative.
FY2021 appropriations for these programs are
 $136 mil ion for SBDCs,

81 T he SBA also eliminated “an exclusionary restriction on PPP access for small business owners with prior non -fraud
felony convictions, consistent with a bipartisan congressional proposal” and “federal student loan debt delinquency and
default as disqualifiers to participating in t he PPP.” See SBA, “ SBA Prioritizes Smallest of Small Businesses in the
Paycheck Protection Program,” February 22, 2021, at https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/feb/22/sba-prioritizes-smallest-
small-businesses-paycheck-protection-program; and T he (Biden) White House, “ Fact Sheet: Biden -Harris
Administration Increases Lending to Small Businesses in Need, Announces Changes to PPP to Further Promote
Equitable Access to Relief,” February 22, 2021, at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/
2021/02/22/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-increases-lending-to-small-businesses-in-need-announces-changes-
to-ppp-to-further-promote-equitable-access-to-relief/.
82 SBA, “PPP Data,” at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/paycheck-protection-
program/ppp-data#section-header-8.
83 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R41352, Small Business Management and Technical
Assistance Training Program s, by Robert Jay Dilger.
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 $85 mil ion for the Microloan Technical Assistance Program,
 $23 mil ion for WBCs,
 $12.2 mil ion for SCORE,
 $5.5 mil ion for PRIME,
 $14 mil ion for Veterans Programs,
 $2 mil ion for NAO,
 $6 mil ion for the Entrepreneurial Development (Regional Innovation Clusters)
initiative, and
 $2.5 mil ion for the Entrepreneurship Education (Emerging Leaders) initiative.84
The following ED programs are provided recommended funding in appropriations acts, but are
discussed in other sections of this report because of the nature of their assistance:
 the SBA’s Growth Accelerators initiative ($2 mil ion in FY2021) is a capital
investment program and is discussed in the capital access programs section;
 the SBA’s 7(j) Technical Assistance Program ($2.8 mil ion in FY2021) provides
contacting assistance and is discussed in the contracting programs section; and
 the National Women’s Business Council ($1.5 mil ion in FY2021) is a bipartisan
federal advisory council and is discussed in the executive direction programs
section.
Several other noncredit programs also receive funding under the ED program account, including
 the Step Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Pilot Grant program, which awards
grants to states to assist eligible smal businesses with exporting ($19.5 mil ion in
FY2021);85
 the Cybersecurity for Smal Business Pilot program, which wil award up to three
grants to states to assist smal businesses with access to cybersecurity tools ($3
mil ion in FY2021);86 and
 the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership program, which provides
grants to states and state-endorsed nonprofit organizations to provide outreach,
financial support, and technical assistance to technology-based smal businesses

84 P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, among other provisions, appropriated $100 million for a
community navigator pilot grant program to improve small business access to COVID-19-related assistance programs
and $75 million for outreach and educational programs. T he SBA’s resource partners, including Small Business
Development Centers, Women Business Centers, and SCORE, are eligible to apply for these competitive grants.
85 P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, authorized the Step T rade and Export P romotion (ST EP) Pilot
Grant program for three years and appropriated $30 million for the program both in FY2011 and FY2012. T he SBA
awarded ST EP grants to states with the goal of assisting eligible small businesses with exporting in FY2011 and
FY2012. T he ST EP program’s authorization expired at the end of FY2013. ST EP was subsequently appropriated $8
million FY2014, $17.4 million in FY2015, $18 million in FY2016 -FY2019, $19 million in FY2020, and $19.5 million
in FY2021. For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R43155, Sm all Business Adm inistration Trade
and Export Prom otion Program s, by Sean Lowry.
86 P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, authorized the Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot
program. T he explanatory statement accompanying the act recommended that the program receive $3 million in
FY2021.
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participating in or interested in participating in the SBIR and STTR programs ($4
mil ion in FY2021).87
In addition, P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, among other
provisions, appropriated an additional $50 mil ion for Microloan Technical Assistance
Program grants in FY2021, and P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,
appropriated $100 mil ion in FY2021 for the Community Navigator Pilot Program to
provide outreach, education, and technical assistance to smal businesses. The SBA’s
management and technical assistance resource partners, state and local governments,
Indian tribes, and private nonprofit organizations are eligible to compete for Community
Navigator grants.
The SBA reports that nearly a mil ion aspiring entrepreneurs and smal business owners receive
mentoring and training from an SBA-supported resource partner each year. Some of this training
is free, and some is offered at low cost.88
SBDCs provide free or low-cost assistance to smal businesses using programs customized to
local conditions. SBDCs support smal business in marketing and business strategy, finance,
technology transfer, government contracting, management, manufacturing, engineering, sales,
accounting, exporting, and other topics. SBDCs are funded by grants from the SBA and matching
funds. There are 62 lead SBDC service centers, one located in each state (four in Texas and six in
California), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American
Samoa. These lead SBDC service centers manage more than 900 SBDC outreach locations.
The SBA’s Microloan Technical Assistance program is part of the SBA’s Microloan program but
receives a separate appropriation. It provides grants to Microloan intermediaries to offer
management and technical training assistance to Microloan program borrowers and prospective
borrowers.89 There are currently 155 active Microloan intermediaries serving 49 states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.90
WBCs are similar to SBDCs, except they concentrate on assisting women entrepreneurs. There
are currently 136 WBCs, with at least one WBC in most states and territories.91

87 T he Federal and State T echnology (FAST ) Partnership program was initially authorized by P.L. 106-554, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001. T he program expired on September 30, 2005, and was reauthorized by P.L.
111-117, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010. T he explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 116-260
recommended that FAST receive $4 million in FY2021. Previously, FAST ’s funding was provided through the SBA’s
salaries and expenses account.
88 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 22.
89 For further analysis of the SBA’s Microloan program, see CRS Report R41057, Small Business Administration
Microloan Program , by Robert Jay Dilger.
90 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 34. As of August 9, 2021,
there were no Microloan intermediaries serving Alaska. See SBA, “ List of Lenders,” at https://www.sba.gov/partners/
lenders/microloan-program/list-lenders.
An intermediary may not operate in more than one state unless the SBA determines that it would be in the best interests
of the small business community for it to operate acro ss state lines. For example, a Microloan intermediary located in
T aunton, Massachusetts is allowed to serve small businesses located in Rhode Island because of its proximity to the
state and there are currently no Microloan intermediaries located in Rhode Island.
91 SBA, “SBA Launches Largest Expansion of Women’s Business Centers in 30 Years,” January 4, 2021, at
https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/jan/04/sba-launches-largest-expansion-womens-business-centers-30-years; and SBA,
“Women’s Business Centers Directory,” at https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/find/?type=
Women%27s%20Business%20Center&pageNumber=1.
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SCORE was established on October 5, 1964, by then-SBA Administrator Eugene P. Foley as a
national, volunteer organization, uniting more than 50 independent nonprofit organizations into a
single, national nonprofit organization. SCORE’s more than 250 chapters are located throughout
the United States and partner with more than 10,000 volunteer counselors, who are working or
retired business owners, executives, and corporate leaders, to provide management and training
assistance to smal businesses.92
PRIME provides SBA grants to nonprofit microenterprise development organizations or programs
that have “a demonstrated record of delivering microenterprise services to disadvantaged
entrepreneurs; an intermediary; a microenterprise development organization or program that is
accountable to a local community, working in conjunction with a state or local government or
Indian tribe; or an Indian tribe acting on its own, if the Indian tribe can certify that no private
organization or program referred to in this paragraph exists within its jurisdiction.”93
The SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) administers several management
and training programs to assist veteran-owned businesses, including 22 Veterans Business
Outreach Centers which provide “entrepreneurial development services such as business training,
counseling and resource partner referrals to transitioning service members, veterans, National
Guard & Reserve members and military spouses interested in starting or growing a smal
business.”94
The SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs provides management and technical educational
assistance to Native Americans (American Indians, Alaska natives, native Hawai ans, and the
indigenous people of Guam and American Samoa) to start and expand smal businesses.
The SBA reports that “regional innovation clusters are on-the-ground col aborations between
business, research, education, financing and government institutions that work to develop and
grow the supply chain of a particular industry or related set of industries in a geographic
region.”95 The SBA has supported the Entrepreneurial Development (Regional Innovation
Clusters) initiative since FY2009, and the initiative has received recommended appropriations
from Congress since FY2010.
The SBA’s Entrepreneurship Education (Emerging Leaders) initiative provides assistance to
high-growth smal businesses in underserved communities. The initiative is a seven-month
executive leader education series consisting of “more than 100 hours of training, technical
support, access to a professional network, and other resources to strengthen their businesses.”96
During the training, “participants produce a three-year strategic growth action plan” with
“benchmarks and performance targets that help them access the necessary support and resources
to move forward for the next stage of business growth.”97

92 SCORE, “Find a Location,” at https://www.score.org/content/find-location; SCORE, “About SCORE,” at
https://www.score.org/about -score; and SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Perform ance
Report, p. 85.
93 P.L. 106-102, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Section 173. Establishment of Program and Section 175. Qualified
Organizations.
94 SBA, “Office of Veterans Business Development: Resources,” at https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/ovbd/
resources/1548576.
95 SBA, FY2017 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2015 Annual Performance Report, p. 64, at
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FY17-CBJ_FY15-APR.pdf.
96 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 88.
97 SBA, FY2014 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2012 Annual Performance Report, p. 71, at
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/1-508-Compliant -FY-2014-CBJ%20FY%202012%20APR.pdf; and SBA,
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Contracting Programs98
Several SBA programs assist smal businesses in obtaining and performing federal contracts and
subcontracts. These include various prime contracting programs; subcontracting programs; and
other assistance (e.g., contracting technical training assistance, the federal goaling program,
federal Offices of Smal and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and the Surety Bond Guarantee
program).
Prime Contracting Programs
Several contracting programs al ow smal businesses to compete only with similar firms for
government contracts or receive sole-source awards in circumstances in which such awards could
not be made to other firms. These programs, which give smal businesses a chance to win
government contracts without having to compete against larger and more experienced companies,
include the following:
8(a) Program.99 The 8(a) Business Development Program (named for the section of the Smal
Business Act from which it derives its authority) is for businesses owned by persons who are
social y and economical y disadvantaged.100 Members of certain racial and ethnic groups are
presumed to be social y disadvantaged, although individuals who do not belong to these groups
may prove they are also social y disadvantaged.101 To be economical y disadvantaged, an
individual must have a net worth of less than $750,000 (excluding ownership interest in the
applicant’s business, equity in their primary personal residence, and funds invested in a qualified
retirement account), no more than $350,000 in average adjusted gross income over the preceding
three years, and no more than $6 mil ion in assets (excluding funds invested in a qualified
retirement account).102

FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Perform ance Report, p. 88.
98 T hese programs apply government -wide but are implemented under the authority of the Small Business Act,
pursuant to regulations promulgated by the SBA that determine, in part, eligibility for the programs. For additional
information and analysis, see CRS Report R45576, An Overview of Sm all Business Contracting , by Robert Jay Dilger.
99 For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R44844, SBA’s “8(a) Program”: Overview, History, and
Current Issues, by Robert Jay Dilger.
100 Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, P.L. 85-536, as amended, can be found at 15 U.S.C. §637(a). Regulations
are in 13 C.F.R. §124. T he Clinton Administration changed the program’s name from the Minority Small Business and
Capital Ownership Development Program to the 8(a) Business Development program in 1988 “to emphasize that
individuals need not be members of minority groups and to stress the importance of assisting participating firms in their
overall business development.” See SBA, “Small Business Size Regulations: 8(a) Business Development/Small
Disadvantaged Business Status Determinations; Rules of Procedure Governin g Cases Before the Office of Hearings
and Appeals,” 63 Federal Register 35727, June 30, 1998.
101 T he following individuals are presumed to be socially disadvantaged: Black Americans; Hispanic Americans;
Native Americans (Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, or enrolled members of a federally or state recognized Indian
T ribe); Asian Pacific Americans (persons with origins from Burma, T hailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei,
Japan, China (including Hong Kong), T aiwan, Laos, Cambodia (Kampuchea), Vietnam, Korea, T he Philippines, U.S.
T rust T erritory of the Pacific Islands (Republic of Palau), Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of
Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Samoa, Macao, Fiji, T onga, Kiribati, T uvalu,
or Nauru); Subcontinent Asian Americans (persons with origins from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan,
the Maldives Islands, or Nepal). See 13 C.F.R. §124.103.
102 13 C.F.R. §124.104. For information related to recent changes to the thresholds used for determining economic
disadvantage, see SBA, “ Women-Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Women -Owned Small
Business Certification,” 85 Federal Register 27650-27665, May 11, 2020.
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A firm certified by the SBA as an 8(a) firm is eligible for set-aside and sole-source contracts. The
SBA also provides technical assistance and training to 8(a) firms. Firms general y may participate
in the 8(a) Program for no more than nine years.103
In FY2020, the federal government awarded $34.0 bil ion to 8(a) firms:
 nearly $20.5 bil ion was awarded with an 8(a) preference ($9.3 bil ion through an
8(a) set-aside and $11.1 bil ion through an 8(a) sole-source award);
 $2.2 bil ion was awarded to an 8(a) firm in open competition with other firms;
and
 $11.3 bil ion was awarded with another smal business preference (e.g., set-
asides and sole-source awards for smal businesses general y and for HUBZone
firms, women-owned smal businesses, and service-disabled veteran-owned
smal businesses).104
Historically Underutilized Business Zone Program.105 This program assists smal businesses
located in Historical y Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) through set-asides, sole-source
awards, and price evaluation preferences in full and open competitions. The determination of
whether an area is a HUBZone is based upon criteria specified in 13 C.F.R. Section 126.103. To
be certified as a HUBZone smal business, at least 35% of the smal business’s employees must
general y reside in a HUBZone.
In FY2020, the federal government awarded nearly $13.6 bil ion to HUBZone-certified
businesses:
 $2.1 bil ion was awarded with a HUBZone preference ($2.0 bil ion through a
HUBZone set-aside, $67.5 mil ion through a HUBZone sole-source award and
$48.5 mil ion through a HUBZone price-evaluation preference);
 $4.0 bil ion was awarded to HUBZone-certified smal businesses in open
competition with other firms; and
 $7.5 bil ion was awarded with another smal business preference (e.g., set-asides
and sole-source awards for smal businesses general y and for 8(a), women-
owned, and service-disabled veteran-owned smal businesses).106
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program. This program assists service-
disabled veteran-owned smal businesses (SDVOSBs) through set-asides and sole-source awards.
For purposes of this program, veterans and service-related disabilities are defined as they are
under the statutes governing veterans affairs.107

103 P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Division N, T itle III of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021), provides businesses participating in the 8(a) program on or befor e
September 9, 2020, the option to extend their participation in the program for one year.
104 Data generated using U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), “Sam.Gov data bank,” August 2, 2021, at
https://sam.gov/reports/awards/adhoc.
105 For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R41268, Small Business Administration HUBZone
Program , by Robert Jay Dilger.
106 Data generated using U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), “Sam.Gov data bank,” August 2, 2021, at
https://sam.gov/reports/awards/adhoc.
107 Veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses are eligible for separate
preferences in procurements conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs under the authority of the Veterans
Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act, as amended by the Veterans’ Benefits Improvements Act of
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In FY2020, the federal government awarded $26.1 bil ion to SDVOSBs:
 $9.7 bil ion was awarded with a SDVOSB preference ($9.4 bil ion through a
SDVOSB set-aside and $281.9 mil ion through a SDVOSB sole-source award);
 $8.4 bil ion was awarded to a SDVOSB in open competition with other firms;
and
 $8.0 bil ion was awarded with another smal business preference (e.g., set-asides
and sole-source awards for smal businesses general y and for HUBZone firms,
8(a) firms, and WOSBs).108
Women-Owned Small Business Program. Under this program, contracts may be set aside for
economical y disadvantaged women-owned smal businesses (WOSB) in industries in which
women are underrepresented and women-owned smal businesses in industries in which women
are substantial y underrepresented. Also, federal agencies may award sole-source contracts to
women-owned smal businesses so long as the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price,
and the anticipated value of the contract is below $4.5 mil ion ($7 mil ion for manufacturing
contracts).109
To qualify as an economical y disadvantaged WOSB, the owner must demonstrate that her ability
to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit
opportunities as compared with others in the same or similar line of business. The SBA uses the
same three-part test used in the 8(a) Program to determine economic disadvantage relating to the
degree of the applicant’s diminished credit and capital opportunities.
In FY2020, the federal government awarded $27.2 bil ion to WOSBs:
 $1.2 bil ion was awarded with a WOSB preference ($1.1 bil ion through a
WOSB set-aside award and $116.1 mil ion through a WOSB sole-source award);
 $9.3 bil ion was awarded to a WOSB in open competition with other firms; and
 $16.6 bil ion was awarded with another smal business preference (e.g., set-
asides and sole-source awards for smal businesses general y and for HUBZone
firms, 8(a) firms, and SDVOSBs).110
Other small businesses. Agencies may also set aside contracts or make sole-source awards to
smal businesses not participating in any other program under certain conditions.
Subcontracting Programs for Small Disadvantaged Businesses
Other federal programs promote subcontracting with smal disadvantaged businesses (SDBs).
SDBs include 8(a) participants and other smal businesses that are at least 51% unconditional y
owned and controlled by social y or economical y disadvantaged individuals or groups. As
mentioned, members of certain racial and ethnic groups are presumed to be social y
disadvantaged, although individuals who do not belong to these groups may prove they are also
social y disadvantaged. To be economical y disadvantaged, an individual must have a net worth
of less than $750,000 (excluding ownership interest in the applicant’s business, equity in their
primary personal residence, and funds invested in a qualified retirement account), no more than

2008.
108 Data generated using GSA, “Sam.Gov data bank,” July 31, 2021, at https://sam.gov/reports/awards/adhoc.
109 P.L. 113-291, the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2015.
110 Data generated using GSA, “Sam.Gov data bank,” July 31, 2021, at https://sam.gov/reports/awards/adhoc.
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$350,000 in average adjusted gross income over the preceding three years, and no more than $6
mil ion in assets (excluding funds invested in a qualified retirement account).
Non-8(a) business owners must general y satisfy the same eligibility requirements for SDB status
as 8(a) firms, although they general y do not apply to the SBA to be designated as a SDB. Instead,
most non-8(a) firms self-certify their status as a SDB when seeking a federal contract and are
subject to fines, imprisonment, and other penalties if they misrepresent their eligibility.111
Federal agencies must negotiate “subcontracting plans” with the apparently successful bidder or
offer or on eligible prime contracts prior to awarding the contract. Subcontracting plans set goals
for the percentage of subcontract dollars to be awarded to SDBs, among others, and describe
efforts that wil be made to ensure that SDBs “have an equitable opportunity to compete for
subcontracts.” Federal agencies may also consider the extent of subcontracting with SDBs in
determining to whom to award a contract or give contractors “monetary incentives” to
subcontract with SDBs.
As of September 23, 2021, the SBA’s Dynamic Smal Business Search database included 6,820
SBA-certified 8(a) firms and 147,473 self-certified SDBs.112
The 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance Program
The SBA’s 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program provides “a wide variety of
management and technical assistance to eligible individuals or concerns to meet their specific
needs, including: (a) counseling and training in the areas of financing, management, accounting,
bookkeeping, marketing, and operation of smal business concerns; and (b) the identification and
development of new business opportunities.”113 Eligible individuals and businesses include “8(a)
certified firms, smal disadvantaged businesses, businesses operating in areas of high
unemployment, or low income or firms owned by low income individuals.”114
In FY2020, the 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program assisted 9,941 smal
businesses.115
Surety Bond Guarantee Program116
The SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee program is designed to increase smal businesses’ access to
federal, state, and local government contracting, as wel as private-sector contracts, by
guaranteeing bid, performance, and payment bonds for smal businesses that cannot obtain surety
bonds through regular commercial channels.117 The program guarantees individual contracts of up
to $6.5 mil ion and up to $10 mil ion for federal contracts if a federal contracting officer certifies

111 See 15 U.S.C. §645(d).
112 SBA, “Dynamic Small Business Search,” at http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm.
113 13 C.F.R. §124.702.
114 SBA, FY2018 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2016 Annual Performance Report, p. 44, at
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/aboutsbaarticle/FINAL_SBA_FY_2018_CBJ_May_22_2017c.pdf .
115 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 73.
116 For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R42037, SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program , by Robert
Jay Dilger.
117 Ancillary bonds are also eligible if they are incidental and essential to a contract for which the SBA has guaranteed
a final bond. A reclamation bond is eligible if it is issued to reclaim an abandoned min e site and for a project
undertaken for a specific period of time.
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that such a guarantee is necessary. The SBA’s guarantee ranges from not to exceed 80% to not to
exceed 90% of the surety’s loss if a default occurs.118 In FY2020, the SBA guaranteed 10,577 bid
and final surety bonds with a total contract value of nearly $7.2 bil ion.119
A surety bond is a three-party instrument between a surety (someone who agrees to be
responsible for the debt or obligation of another), a contractor, and a project owner. The
agreement binds the contractor to comply with the terms and conditions of a contract. If the
contractor is unable to successfully perform the contract, the surety assumes the contractor’s
responsibilities and ensures that the project is completed. The surety bond reduces the risk
associated with contracting.120
Surety bonds are viewed as a means to encourage project owners to contract with smal
businesses that may not have the credit history or prior experience of larger businesses and are
considered to be at greater risk of failing to comply with the contract’s terms and conditions.121
Goaling Program
Since 1978, federal agency heads have been required to establish federal procurement contracting
goals, in consultation with the SBA, “that realistical y reflect the potential of smal business
concerns” to participate in federal procurement. Each agency is required, at the conclusion of
each fiscal year, to report its progress in meeting these goals to the SBA.122
In 1988, Congress authorized the President to annual y establish government-wide minimum
participation goals for procurement contracts awarded to smal businesses and smal businesses
owned and controlled by social y and economical y disadvantaged individuals. Congress required
the government-wide minimum participation goal for smal businesses to be “not less than 20%
of the total value of al prime contract awards for each fiscal year” and “not less than 5% of the
total value of al prime contract and subcontract awards for each fiscal year” for smal businesses
owned and controlled by social y and economical y disadvantaged individuals.123
Each federal agency was also directed to “have an annual goal that presents, for that agency, the
maximum practicable opportunity for smal business concerns and smal business concerns
owned and controlled by social y and economical y disadvantaged individuals to participate in the
performance of contracts let by such agency.”124 The SBA was also required to report to the
President annual y on the attainment of the goals and to include the information in an annual
report to Congress.125 The SBA negotiates the goals with each federal agency and establishes a
small business eligible baseline for evaluating the agency’s performance.126 The agency head is

118 P.L. 114-92, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, includes a provision that increased the
Preferred Surety Bond Guarantee Program’s guarantee rate from not to exceed 70% to not to exceed 90% of losses
starting one year from enactment (effective November 25, 2016) . For additional information and analysis, see CRS
Report R42037, SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program , by Robert Jay Dilger.
119 SBA, FY2020 Program Performance: SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program , at https://content.govdelivery.com/
accounts/USSBA/bulletins/2a5a0e6.
120 SBA, “Surety Bonds,” at https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/loans-grants/bonds/surety-bonds.
121 SBA, “Surety Bonds.”
122 P.L. 95-507, a bill to amend the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958.
123 P.L. 100-656, the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988.
124 P.L. 100-656.
125 P.L. 100-656.
126 According to a 2001 GAO report, the SBA began to specify what types of contracts the Federal Procurement Data
System would exclude when determining agency compliance with federal contracting goals in FY1998. Prior to
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required to “make consistent efforts to annual y expand participation by smal business concerns
from each industry category.”127 If the SBA and the agency cannot agree on the goals, the agency
may submit the case to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Federal
Procurement Policy (OFPP) for resolution.128
The smal business eligible baseline excludes certain contracts that the SBA has determined do
not realistical y reflect the potential for smal business participation in federal procurement (such
as those awarded to mandatory and directed sources), contracts funded predominately from
agency-generated sources (i.e., nonappropriated funds), contracts not covered by Federal
Acquisition Regulations, acquisitions on behalf of foreign governments, and contracts not
reported in the General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Federal Procurement Data System—
Next Generation, or FPDS-NG (such as contracts valued below $10,000 and government
procurement card purchases).129 These exclusions typical y account for 18% to 20% of al federal
prime contracts each year.
The SBA then evaluates the agencies’ performance against their negotiated goals and presents the
results in the SBA’s annual Smal Business Procurement Scorecards. The SBA uses FPDS-NG
data, which are published in GSA’s annual Smal Business Goaling Report. Each agency that fails
to achieve any proposed prime or subcontract goal is required to submit a justification to the SBA
on why it failed to achieve a proposed or negotiated goal with a proposed plan of corrective
action.130
Over the years, federal government-wide procurement contracting goals have been established for
smal businesses general y (P.L. 100-656, the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of
1988, and P.L. 105-135, the HUBZone Act of 1997—Title VI of the Smal Business
Reauthorization Act of 1997), smal businesses owned and controlled by social y and
economical y disadvantaged individuals (P.L. 100-656, the Business Opportunity Development
Reform Act of 1988), women (P.L. 103-355, the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994),
smal businesses located within a HUBZone (P.L. 105-135, the HUBZone Act of 1997—Title VI
of the Smal Business Reauthorization Act of 1997), and smal businesses owned and controlled
by a service disabled veteran (P.L. 106-50, the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Smal Business
Development Act of 1999).
The current federal smal business contracting goals are
 at least 23% of the total value of al smal business eligible prime contract awards
to smal businesses for each fiscal year,

FY1998, “ agencies reported their small business achievements directly to SBA and excluded from their calculations
certain types of contracts, such as those for which small businesses had a limited or no chance to compete. SBA then
published an annual report summarizing each agency’s achievements. SBA officials said that in some cases they were
not aware of all exclusions the agencies made when reporting their numbers.” GAO, Sm all Business: More
Transparency Needed in Prim e Contract Goal Program , GAO-01-551, August 1, 2001, pp. 9-10, at
http://www.gao.gov/assets/240/231854.pdf.
127 15 U.S.C. §644(g)(2).
128 SBA, Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, “FY
2019 Goaling Guidelines,” August 2018, p. 5, at https://www.sba.gov/document/report —sba-goaling-guidelines
(hereinafter cited as SBA, “FY2019 Goaling Guidelines”).
129 SBA, “FY2019 Goaling Guidelines,” p. 4.
130 SBA, Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, “FY
2019 Goaling Guidelines,” August 2018, p. 6, at https://www.sba.gov/document/report —sba-goaling-guidelines.
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 5% of the total value of al smal business eligible prime contract awards and
subcontract awards to smal disadvantaged businesses for each fiscal year,
 5% of the total value of al smal business eligible prime contract awards and
subcontract awards to women-owned smal businesses,
 3% of the total value of al smal business eligible prime contract awards and
subcontract awards to HUBZone smal businesses, and
 3% of the total value of al smal business eligible prime contract awards and
subcontract awards to service-disabled veteran-owned smal businesses.131
There are no punitive consequences for not meeting these goals. However, the SBA’s Smal
Business Procurement Scorecards and GSA’s Smal Business Goaling Report are distributed
widely, receive media attention, and heighten public awareness of the issue of smal business
contracting. For example, agency performance as reported in the SBA’s Smal Business
Procurement Scorecards is often cited by Members during their questioning of federal agency
witnesses during congressional hearings.
As shown in Table 6, the FY2020 Small Business Procurement Scorecard indicates that federal
agencies met the federal procurement goal for smal businesses general y, smal disadvantaged
businesses, and service-disabled veteran-owned smal businesses in FY2020 (see the second and
third columns).
Table 6 also provides, for comparative purposes, the percentage of smal business eligible
contracts awarded to smal businesses in FY2020 without the required double counting of awards
in a disaster area and to Puerto Rico and other covered territories (see the fourth column), and the
percentage of al federal contracts (without exclusions and without double counting) awarded to
smal businesses (see the fifth column).
Table 6. Federal Contracting Goals and Percentage of FY2020 Federal Contract
Dollars Awarded to Small Businesses, by Type
Percentage of
Percentage of
Percentage of
Federal
Federal
Federal
Contracts (all
Contracts (small
Contracts (small
reported
business eligible,
business eligible,
contracts,
including double
excluding double
excluding double
Business Type
Federal Goal
counting)
counting)
counting)
Smal Businesses
23.0%
26.02%
25.42%
21.89%
Smal Disadvantaged
5.0%
10.54%
10.39%
9.08%
Businesses
Women-Owned Smal
5.0%
4.85%
4.71%
4.10%
Businesses
HUBZone Smal
3.0%
2.44%
2.39%
2.04%
Businesses
Service-Disabled
3.0%
4.28%
4.23%
3.92%
Veteran-Owned Smal
Businesses
Sources: U.S. Smal Business Administration, “Statutory Guidelines,” at https://www.sba.gov/content/statutory-
guidelines-0 (federal goals); U.S. Smal Business Administration, “Government-Wide Performance, FY2020 Smal

131 15 U.S.C. §644(g)(1)-(2).
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Business Procurement Scorecard,” at https://www.sba.gov/document/support-smal -business-procurement-
scorecard-overview; and data generated using General Service Administration, “Sam.Gov data bank,” July 31,
2021, at https://sam.gov/reports/awards/adhoc (al reported contract dol ars).
Notes: In accordance with federal law, the Smal Business Administration provided double credit, for scorecard
purposes only, for prime contracts awarded in disaster areas that are awarded as a local set aside and a smal
business or other socioeconomic set aside when the vendor state is the same as the place of performance (see
15 U.S.C. §644(f)) and for prime contracts awarded to businesses in Puerto Rico and covered territories (see 15
U.S.C. §644(x)(1)). The Smal Business Administration also included Department of Energy first -tier subcontract
awards as required by P.L. 113-76, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (§318).
The FY2020 Smal Business Procurement Scorecard was made available on July 30, 2021, and reflects contracting
data as of February 22, 2021. Smal business eligible contracts totaled $559.981 bil ion in FY2020 and $145.8
bil ion was awarded to smal businesses ($142.4 without double counting), $59.0 bil ion to smal disadvantaged
businesses ($58.2 bil ion without double counting), $27.1 bil ion to women-owned smal businesses ($26.4 bil ion
without double counting), $13.6 bil ion to SBA-certified HUBZone smal businesses ($13.4 bil ion without double
counting), and $23.9 bil ion to service-disabled veteran-owned smal businesses ($23.7 bil ion without double
counting). The Department of Energy first-tier subcontract awards in FY2020 were: $3.36 bil ion to smal
businesses, $0.81 bil ion to smal disadvantaged businesses, $0.76 bil ion to smal women-owned businesses,
$0.24 bil ion to SBA-certified HUBZone smal businesses, and $0.23 bil ion to service-disabled veteran-owned
smal businesses.
The percentages provided in the column for al reported contracts in FY2020 were calculated using contracting
data as reported on July 31, 2021 (without double counting): $665.7 bil ion in total contracts; $145.8 bil ion to
smal businesses, $60.5 bil ion to smal disadvantaged businesses, $27.3 bil ion to women -owned smal businesses,
$13.6 bil ion to SBA-certified HUBZone smal businesses, and $26.1 bil ion to service-disabled veteran-owned
smal businesses.
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Government agencies with procurement authority have an Office of Smal and Disadvantaged
Business Utilization (OSDBU) to advocate within the agency for smal businesses, as wel as
assist smal businesses in their dealings with federal agencies (e.g., obtaining payment).
Capital Investment Programs
The SBA has several programs to improve smal business access to capital markets, including the
Smal Business Investment Company program, the New Market Venture Capital Program (now
inactive), two special high technology contracting programs (the Smal Business Innovative
Research and Smal Business Technology Transfer programs), and the growth accelerators
initiative.
The Small Business Investment Company Program132
The Smal Business Investment Company (SBIC) program enhances smal business access to
venture capital by stimulating and supplementing “the flow of private equity capital and long-
term loan funds which smal -business concerns need for the sound financing of their business
operations and for their growth, expansion, and modernization, and which are not available in
adequate supply.”133

132 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R41456, SBA Small Business Investment Company Program,
by Robert Jay Dilger.
133 15 U.S.C. §661.
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The SBA works with 299 privately owned and managed SBICs licensed by the SBA to provide
financing to smal businesses with private capital the SBIC has raised and with funds the SBIC
borrows at favorable rates because the SBA guarantees the debenture (loan obligation).
SBICs provide equity capital to smal businesses in various ways, including by
 purchasing smal business equity securities (e.g., stock, stock options, warrants,
limited partnership interests, membership interests in a limited liability company,
or joint venture interests);134
 making loans to smal businesses, either independently or in cooperation with
other private or public lenders, that have a maturity of no more than 20 years;135
 purchasing debt securities from smal businesses, which may be convertible into,
or have rights to purchase, equity in the smal business;136 and
 subject to limitations, providing smal businesses a guarantee of their monetary
obligations to creditors not associated with the SBIC.137
The SBIC program currently has invested or committed about $33.9 bil ion in smal businesses,
with the SBA’s share of capital at risk about $14.7 bil ion.138 In FY2020, the SBA provided
SBICs $1.8 bil ion in leverage and SBICs invested nearly $3.1 bil ion from private capital for a
total of nearly $4.9 bil ion in financing for 1,063 smal businesses.139
Table 7. Summary of Small Business Investment Company Program’s Key Features
Key Feature
Program Summary
Use of Proceeds
To purchase smal business equity securities, make loans to smal businesses,
purchase debt securities from smal businesses, and provide, subject to limitations,
smal businesses a guarantee of their monetary obligations to creditors not
associated with the SBIC.
Maximum Leverage Amount
A licensed SBIC in good standing with a demonstrated need for funds may apply to
the SBA for financial assistance (cal ed leverage) of up to 300% of its private
capital. However, most SBICs are approved for a maximum of 200% of their
private capital, and no fund management team may exceed the al owable maximum
amount of leverage, currently $175 mil ion per SBIC and $350 mil ion for two or
more licenses under common control.

134 13 C.F.R. §107.800. T he SBIC is not allowed to become a general partner in any unincorporated business or become
jointly or severally liable for any obligations of an unincorporated business.
135 13 C.F.R. §107.810 and 13 C.F.R. §107.840.
136 13 C.F.R. §107.815. Debt securities are instruments evidencing a loan with an option or any other right to acquire
equity securities in a small business or its affiliates, or a loan which by its terms is convertible into an equity position,
or a loan with a right t o receive royalties that are excluded from the cost of money.
137 13 C.F.R. §107.820.
138 SBA, “Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program Overview Report for the Quarter Ending June 30,
2021,” at https://www.sba.gov/document/report -small-business-investment-company-sbic-program-overview-quarter-
ending-june-30-2021(hereinafter cited as SBA, “ SBIC Program Overview June 30, 2021”) .
139 SBA, “SBIC Program Overview June 30, 2021.”
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Key Feature
Program Summary
Maturity
SBA-guaranteed debenture participation certificates can have a term of up to 15
years, although currently only one outstanding SBA-guaranteed debenture
participation certificate has a term exceeding 10 years and al recent public
offerings have specified a term of 10 years. SBA-guaranteed debentures provide
for semiannual interest payments and a lump sum principal payment to investors at
maturity. SBICs are al owed to prepay SBA-guaranteed debentures without
penalty. However, a SBA-guaranteed debenture must be prepaid in whole and not
in part and can only be prepaid on a semiannual payment date. Also, low-to-
moderate income area (LMI) debentures are available in two maturities, for 5
years and 10 years (plus the stub period).
Maximum Interest Rates
The debenture’s coupon (interest) rate is determined by market conditions and
the interest rate of 10-year Treasury securities at the time of the sale.
Guaranty Fees
The SBA requires the SBIC to pay a 3% origination fee for each debenture issued
(1% at commitment and 2% at draw), an annual fee on the leverage drawn, which
is fixed at the time of the leverage commitment, and other administrative and
underwriting fees, which are adjusted annual y.
Job Creation Requirements
No job creation requirements.
Source: Table compiled by CRS from data from the SBA.
New Market Venture Capital Program140
The now inactive New Market Venture Capital (NMVC) program encourages equity investments
in smal businesses in low-income areas that meet specific statistical criteria established by
regulation. The program operates through public-private partnerships between the SBA and newly
formed NMVC investment companies and existing Specialized Smal Business Investment
Companies (SSBICs) that operate under the Smal Business Investment Company program.
The NMVC program’s objective is to serve the unmet equity needs of local entrepreneurs in low -
income areas by providing developmental venture capital investments and technical assistance,
helping to create quality employment opportunities for low-income area residents, and building
wealth within those areas.
The SBA’s role is essential y the same as with the SBIC program. The SBA selects participants
for the NMVC program, provides funding for their investments and operational assistance
activities, and regulates their operations to ensure public policy objectives are being met. The
SBA requires the companies to provide regular performance reports and have annual financial
examinations by the SBA.
The NMVC program was appropriated $21.952 mil ion in FY2001 to support up to $150 mil ion
in SBA-guaranteed debentures and $30 mil ion to fund operational assistance grants for FY2001
through FY2006. The funds were provided in a lump sum in FY2001 and were to remain
available until expended. In 2003, the unobligated balances of $10.5 mil ion for the NMVC
debenture subsidies and $13.75 mil ion for operational assistance grants were rescinded. The
program continued to operate, with the number and amount of financing declining as the
program’s initial investments expired and NMVC companies increasingly engaged only in
additional follow-on financings with the smal businesses in their portfolios. The NMVC
program’s active unpaid principal balance (which is composed of the SBA guaranteed portion and

140 For further information and analysis of the New Markets Venture Capital program, see CRS Report R42565, SBA
New Markets Venture Capital Program , by Robert Jay Dilger.
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the unguaranteed portion of the NMVC companies’ active unpaid principal balance) peaked at
$68.1 mil ion in FY2008, and then fel each year thereafter until reaching $0 in FY2018.
Small Business Innovation Research Program141
The Smal Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is designed to increase the participation
of smal , high technology firms in federal research and development (R&D) endeavors, provide
additional opportunities for the involvement of minority and disadvantaged individuals in the
R&D process, and result in the expanded commercialization of the results of federal y funded
R&D.142 Current law requires that every federal department with an R&D budget of $100 mil ion
or more establish and operate a SBIR program. Currently, 11 federal agencies participate in the
SBIR program. A set percentage of that agency’s applicable extramural R&D budget—original y
set at not less than 0.2% in FY1983 and currently not less than 3.2%—is to be used to support
mission-related work in smal businesses.143
Agency SBIR efforts involve a three-phase process. Phase I awards, normal y up to $150,000, for
six months are made to evaluate a concept’s scientific or technical merit and feasibility. The
project must be of interest to and coincide with the mission of the supporting organization. Phase
I awards are capped at $259,613, but higher amounts may be awarded with SBA approval.
Projects that demonstrate potential after the initial endeavor may compete for Phase II awards
lasting one to two years.144 Phase II awards, normal y up to $1 mil ion, are for the performance of
the principal R&D by the smal business. Phase II awards are capped at $1.73 mil ion, but higher
amounts may be awarded with SBA approval. Phase III funding, directed at the
commercialization of the product or process, is expected to be generated in the private sector.
Federal dollars may be used if the government perceives that the final technology or technique
wil meet public needs.
Eight departments and three other federal agencies currently have SBIR programs, including the
Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human
Services, Homeland Security, and Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency; the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); and the National Science Foundation
(NSF).145 Each agency’s SBIR activity reflects that organization’s management style. Individual
departments select R&D interests, administer program operations, and control financial support.
Funding can be disbursed in the form of contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements. Separate
agency solicitations are issued at established times.
The SBA is responsible for establishing the broad policy and guidelines under which individual
departments operate their SBIR programs. The SBA monitors and reports to Congress on the
conduct of the separate departmental activities.

141 For further information and analysis of the SBIR program, see CRS Report R43695, Small Business Research
Program s: SBIR and STTR, by Marcy E. Gallo
142 See P.L. 97-219, the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 and 15 U.S.C. §638.
143 T he percentage of each designated agency’s applicable ext ramural research and development budget to be used to
support mission-related work in small businesses was scheduled to increase to not less than 2.7% in FY2013, not less
than 2.8% in FY2014, not less than 2.9% in FY2015, not less than 3.0% in FY2016, and not less than 3.2% in FY2017
and each fiscal year thereafter. See P.L. 112-81, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 and
SBA, “Small Business Innovation Research Program Policy Directive,” 77 Federal Register 46806-46855.
144 SBA, “About SBIR: Award Funding Amounts,” at https://www.sbir.gov/about. Agencies may exceed these award
amounts with SBA approval prior to the release of the solicitation, award, or modification to the award.
145 See SBA, “About SBIR: SBIR Participating Agencies,” at https://www.sbir.gov/about/about-sbir.
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Small Business Technology Transfer Program
The Smal Business Technology Transfer program (STTR) provides funding for research
proposals that are developed and executed cooperatively between a smal firm and a scientist in a
nonprofit research organization and meet the mission requirements of the federal funding
agency.146 Phase I financing, normal y up to $150,000, is available for approximately one year to
fund the exploration of the scientific, technical, and commercial feasibility of an idea or
technology. Phase 1 financing is capped at $259,613, but higher amounts may be awarded with
SBA approval. Phase II awards, normal y up to $1 mil ion, may be made for two years, during
which time the developer performs R&D work and begins to consider commercial potential.
Phase II awards are capped at $1.73 mil ion, but higher amounts may be awarded with SBA
approval.147 Only Phase I award winners are considered for Phase II. Phase III funding, directed
at the commercialization of the product or process, is expected to be generated in the private
sector. The smal business must find funding in the private sector or other non-STTR federal
agency.
The STTR program is funded by a set-aside, initial y set at not less than 0.05% in FY1994 and
now at not less than 0.45%, of the extramural R&D budget of departments that spend more than
$1 bil ion per year on this effort.148 The Departments of Energy, Defense, and Health and Human
Services participate in the STTR program, as do NASA and NSF.
The SBA is responsible for establishing the broad policy and guidelines under which individual
departments operate their STTR programs. The SBA monitors and reports to Congress on the
conduct of the separate departmental activities.
Growth Accelerators Initiative
The SBA describes growth accelerators as “organizations that help entrepreneurs start and scale
their businesses.”149 Growth accelerators are typical y run by experienced entrepreneurs and help
smal businesses access seed capital and mentors. The SBA claims that growth accelerators “help
accelerate a startup company’s path towards success with targeted advice on revenue growth, job,
and sourcing outside funding.”150
The SBA’s growth accelerator initiative began in FY2014 when Congress recommended in its
appropriations report that the initiative be provided $2.5 mil ion. Congress subsequently
recommended that it receive $4 mil ion in FY2015; $1 mil ion in FY2016, FY2017, and FY2018;
and $2 mil ion in FY2019, FY2020, and FY2021.
The growth accelerators initiative provides $50,000 matching grants each year to universities and
private-sector accelerators to support the development of accelerators and their support of startups
in parts of the country where there are fewer conventional sources of access to capital (i.e.,
venture capital and other investors).

146 See P.L. 102-564, the Small Business Research and Development Enhancement Act of 1992 and 15 U.S.C. §638.
147 SBA, “About SBIR: Award Funding Amounts,” at https://www.sbir.gov/about.
148 T he ST T R program’s set-aside was not less than 0.4% in FY2015, and was increased to 0.45% in FY2016 and each
fiscal year thereafter. See P.L. 112-81, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 and SBA, “ Small
Business T echnology T ransfer Program Policy Directive,” 77 Federal Register 46855-46908.
149 SBA, FY2018 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2016 Annual Performance Report, p. 75, at
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/aboutsbaarticle/FINAL_SBA_FY_2018_CBJ_May_22_2017c.pdf .
150 SBA, FY2018 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2016 Annual Performance Report, p. 75.
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The SBA has awarded 387 $50,000 growth accelerator awards to date: 50 in 2014, 88 in 2015, 85
in 2016, 20 in 2017, 60 in 2019, and 84 in 2021, for a total of $19.35 mil ion.151
The SBA did not issue a competitive announcement for growth accelerator awards in FY2018 and
FY2020.
Regional and District Offices
As mentioned, the SBA provides funding to third parties, such as SBDCs, to provide management
and training services to smal business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. The SBA also provides
management, training, and outreach services to smal business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs
through its 68 district offices. These offices are overseen by the SBA Office of Field Operations
and 10 regional offices.
SBA district offices conduct more than 20,000 outreach events annual y with stakeholders and
resource partners that include “lender training, government contracting, marketing events in
emerging areas, and events targeted to high-growth entrepreneurial markets, such as
exporting.”152 SBA district offices focus “on core SBA programs concerning contracting, capital,
technical assistance, and exporting.”153 They also perform annual program eligibility and
compliance reviews on 100% of the 8(a) business development firms in the SBA’s portfolio and
each year conduct on-site examinations of about 10% of al HUBZone certified firms (557 in
FY2020) to validate compliance with the HUBZone program’s geographic requirement for
principal offices.154
Office of Inspector General155
The Office of Inspector General’s (OIG’s) mission is “to provide independent, objective
oversight to improve the integrity, accountability, and performance of SBA and its programs for
the benefit of the American people.”156 The office was created within the SBA by the Inspector
General Act of 1978 [P.L. 95-452], as amended. The Inspector General, who is nominated by the

151 SBA, “SBA Boosts Economic Impact of Accelerators with $4.4 Million in Prizes,” August 4, 2015, at
https://www.sba.gov/content/sba-boosts-economic-impact -accelerators-44-million-prizes-0; SBA, “ SBA Announces
$3.4 Million for Small Business Startups,” August 31, 2016, at https://www.sba.gov/content/sba-announces-34-million-
small-business-startups; SBA, “ SBA Announces 20 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Recipients,” October 30,
2017, at https://www.sba.gov/node/1594788; SBA, “ SBA Announces $3 Million for 60 Growth Accelerator Fund
Competition Recipients Supporting Startups and ST EM Focused Entrepreneurs,” September 26, 2019, at
https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/sba-announces-3-million-60-growth-
accelerator-fund-competition-recipients-supporting-startups-and; SBA, “ SBA Announces $3 Million for 60 Growth
Accelerator Fund Competition Recipients Supporting Startups and ST EM Focused Entrepreneurs,” February 6, 2020, at
https://www.sba.gov/article/2020/feb/06/sba-announces-3-million-60-growth-accelerator-fund-competition-recipients-
supporting-startups-stem; SBA, “ 2021 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition and SBIR Catalyst Competition Results,”
at https://www.sbir.gov/accelerators; and SBA, Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, “ Correspondence with
the author,” June 25, 2021.
152 SBA, FY2018 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2016 Annual Performance Report, p. 104, at
https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/aboutsbaarticle/FINAL_SBA_FY_2018_CBJ_May_22_2017c.pdf .
153 SBA, FY2018 Congressional Budget Justification and FY2016 Annual Performance Report, p. 104.
154 SBA, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 73.
155 For additional information and analysis, see CRS Report R44589, SBA’s Office of Inspector General: Overview,
Im pact, and Relationship with Congress, by Robert Jay Dilger.
156 SBA, Office of the Inspector General, “Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2017-2021,” pp. 3, 4, at
https://www.sba.gov/document/report --office-inspector-general-strategic-plan.
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President and confirmed by the Senate, directs the office. The Inspector General Act provides the
OIG with the following responsibilities:
 “promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the management of SBA
programs and supporting operations;
 conduct and supervise audits, investigations, and reviews relating to the SBA’s
programs and support operations;
 detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse;
 review existing and proposed legislation and regulations and make appropriate
recommendations;
 maintain effective working relationships with other Federal, State and local
governmental agencies, and nongovernmental entities, regarding the mandated
duties of the Inspector General;
 keep the SBA Administrator and Congress informed of serious problems and
recommend corrective actions and implementation measures;
 comply with the audit standards of the Comptroller General;
 avoid duplication of Government Accountability Office (GAO) activities; and
 report violations of law to the Attorney General.”157
Restaurant Revitalization Fund158
The $28.6 bil ion Restaurant Revitalization Fund Program (RRF) was authorized by P.L. 117-2,
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The RRF provides grants of up to $5 mil ion per
permanent physical business location (not to exceed $10 mil ion per applicant and any affiliated
businesses) to restaurants and other similar places of business “in which the public or patrons
assemble for the primary purpose of being served food or drink” and which have experienced
COVID-19-related revenue loss. Unlike most other SBA programs, there is no limit on the
number of employees for businesses to qualify for a RRF grant.
To qualify for the RRF, for-profit businesses (together with their affiliated businesses) may not
have owned or operated more than 20 locations as of March 13, 2020, regardless of whether those
locations do business under the same or multiple names.
RRF grants are designed to assist applicants in remaining open or reopening. Permanently closed
businesses are not eligible and temporarily closed businesses must reopen soon, with eligible
expenses incurred by March 11, 2021, at the latest.
RRF grants are equal to the amount of COVID-19-related revenue loss (up to the program’s
limits) the applicant experienced, as determined by formulas. These formulas vary, in part, based
on the date an eligible entity began operations (e.g., the date the entity started sales). For
example, entities that began operations on or before January 1, 2019, may receive the difference
between their gross receipts as reported on their 2019 and 2020 federal income tax returns,
excluding any amounts received from a list of specified sources (this includes the SBA’s PPP,
Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program, EIDL Advance Payment Program, Targeted

157 SBA, “ Office of the Inspector General Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2017 -2021,” p. 4.
158 For further information and analysis of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, see CRS In Focus IF11819, SBA
Restaurant Revitalization Fund Grants, by Robert Jay Dilger and Sean Lowry.
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EIDL Program, and SBA debt relief payments). If the applicant received a PPP loan or EIDL,
those amounts wil be subtracted from the RRF grant amount.
The SBA is required to set aside $5 bil ion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts of not more
than $500,000 and to distribute the remaining $23.6 bil ion in an equitable manner to applicants
of different sizes based on annual gross receipts. To meet this latter directive, the SBA set aside
an additional $4 bil ion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts from $500,001 to $1.5 mil ion and
an additional $500 mil ion for applicants with 2019 gross receipts of not more than $50,000 “to
ensure that the smal est businesses and those in underserved communities receive funding.”159
The SBA began accepting RRF applications on May 3, 2021, and announced on May 12, 2021,
that it had received requests for more than $65 bil ion in funds. Because the demand from
applicants exceeded the RRF’s budgetary authority, the SBA closed the application portal on May
12, 2021, to most applicants. Applications continued to be accepted until May 24 from applicants
with revenue up to $50,000 because the budget authority set aside for those applicants had not yet
been exhausted.160
The RRF program received more than 278,000 eligible applications requesting over $72.2 bil ion
in funding.161 Underserved populations received about $18 bil ion of the $28.6 bil ion available
($7.5 bil ion to women-owned businesses, $6.7 bil ion to social y and economical y
disadvantaged businesses, $2.8 bil ion to businesses owned by representatives of multiple
underserved populations, and $1 bil ion to veteran-owned businesses).162
Office of Advocacy163
The SBA’s Office of Advocacy is “an independent voice for smal business within the federal
government.”164 The Chief Counsel for Advocacy, who is nominated by the President and
confirmed by the Senate, directs the office. The Office of Advocacy’s mission is to “encourage
policies that support the development and growth of American smal businesses” by
 intervening early in federal agencies’ regulatory development process on
proposals that affect smal businesses and providing Regulatory Flexibility Act
compliance training to federal agency policymakers and regulatory development
officials;
 producing research to inform policymakers and other stakeholders on the impact
of federal regulatory burdens on smal businesses, to document the vital role of
smal businesses in the economy, and to explore and explain the wide variety of
issues of concern to the smal business community; and

159 SBA, “Restaurant Revitalization Funding Program: Program Guide as of April 28, 2021,” p. 15, at
https://www.sba.gov/document/support -restaurant -revitalization-funding-program-guide.
160 SBA, “Recovery for the Smallest Restaurants and Bars: Administrator Guzman Announces Latest Application Data
Results for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund,” May 12, 2021, at https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/may/12/recovery-
smallest-restaurants-bars-administrator-guzman-announces-latest-application-data-results.
161 SBA, “SBA Administrator Announces Closure of Restaurant Revitalization Fund Program,” July 2, 2021, at
https://www.sba.gov/article/2021/jul/02/sba-administrator-announces-closure-restaurant -revitalization-fund-program.
162 SBA, “SBA Administrator Announces Closure of Restaurant Revitalization Fund Program,” July 2, 20 21.
163 For further information and analysis of the Office of Advocacy, see CRS Report R43625, SBA Office of Advocacy:
Overview, History, and Current Issues, by Robert Jay Dilger.
164 SBA, “Office of Advocacy: About Us,” at https://www.sba.gov/category/advocacy-navigation-structure/about-us-0.
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 fostering a two-way communication between federal agencies and the smal
business community.165
Executive Direction Programs
The SBA’s executive direction programs consist of the National Women’s Business Council, the
Office of Ombudsman, and Faith-Based Initiatives.
The National Women’s Business Council
The National Women’s Business Council is a bipartisan federal advisory council created to serve
as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the SBA on
economic issues of importance to women business owners. The council’s mission “is to promote
bold initiatives, policies, and programs designed to support women’s business enterprises at al
stages of development in the public and private sector marketplaces—from start-up to success to
significance.”166
Office of Ombudsman167
The National Ombudsman’s mission “is to assist smal businesses when they experience
excessive or unfair federal regulatory enforcement actions, such as repetitive audits or
investigations, excessive fines, penalties, threats, retaliation or other unfair enforcement action by
a federal agency.”168 The Office of Ombudsman works with federal agencies that have regulatory
authority over smal businesses to provide a means for entrepreneurs to comment about
enforcement activities and encourage agencies to address those concerns promptly. It also
receives comments from smal businesses about unfair federal compliance or enforcement
activities and refers those comments to the Inspector General of the affected agency in
appropriate circumstances. In addition, the National Ombudsman files an annual report with
Congress and affected federal agencies that rates federal agencies based on substantiated
comments received from smal business owners. Affected agencies are provided an opportunity to
comment on the draft version of the annual report to Congress before it is submitted.169
Faith-Based Initiatives
The SBA sponsors several faith-based initiatives For example, the SBA, in cooperation with the
National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL), created the Business Smart
Toolkit, “a ready-to-use workshop toolkit that equips faith-based and community organizations to
help new and aspiring entrepreneurs launch and build businesses that are credit ready.”170

165 SBA, Office of Advocacy, FY2013 Congressional Budget Justification, p. 2, at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/
files/files/1-508%20Compliant%20FY%202013%20CBJ%20FY%202011%20APR%281%29.pdf.
166 T he National Women’s Business Council, “About the Council,” Washington, DC, at https://www.nwbc.gov/about/.
167 For further information and analysis, see CRS Report R45071, SBA Office of the National Ombudsman: Overview,
History, and Current Issues, by Robert Jay Dilger.
168 SBA, “ Office of the National Ombudsman,” at https://www.sba.gov/ombudsman.
169 SBA, “ National Ombudsman’s Fiscal Year Reports to Congress,” at https://www.sba.gov/ombudsman/national-
ombudsmans-fiscal-year-reports-congress.
170 SBA, “ SBA and NAGGL Launch Business Smart T oolkit ,” September 4, 2015, at https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/
sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/sba-and-naggl-launch-business-smart -toolkit .
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Legislative Activity
During the 111th Congress
 P.L. 111-5, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
provided the SBA an additional $730 mil ion in temporary funding, including
$375 mil ion to subsidize fees for the SBA’s 7(a) and 504/CDC loan guaranty
programs and to increase the 7(a) program’s maximum loan guaranty percentage
to 90% for al regular 7(a) loans through September 30, 2010, or when
appropriated funding for the subsidies and loan modification was exhausted.
 P.L. 111-240, the Smal Business Jobs Act of 2010, authorized the Secretary of
the Treasury to establish a $30 bil ion Smal Business Lending Fund (SBLF) to
encourage community banks with less than $10 bil ion in assets to increase their
lending to smal businesses (about $4.0 bil ion was issued) and a $1.5 bil ion
State Smal Business Credit Initiative to provide funding to participating states
with smal business capital access programs. The act also provided the SBA an
additional $697.5 mil ion; including $510 mil ion to continue the SBA’s fee
subsidies and the 7(a) program’s 90% maximum loan guaranty percentage
through December 31, 2010, and about $12 bil ion in tax relief for smal
businesses.171
 P.L. 111-322, the Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation
Extensions Act, 2011, authorized the SBA to continue its fee subsidies and the
7(a) program’s 90% maximum loan guaranty percentage through March 4, 2011,
or until available funding was exhausted, which occurred on January 3, 2011.
During the 112th Congress, the SBA’s statutory authorization expired (on July 31, 2011).172 Since
then, the SBA has been operating under authority provided by annual appropriations acts. Prior to
July 31, 2011, the SBA’s authorization had been temporarily extended 15 times since 2006.
P.L. 112-239, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, increased the SBA’s
surety bond limit from $2 mil ion to $6.5 mil ion (and up to $10 mil ion if a federal contracting
officer certifies that such a guarantee is necessary); required the SBA to oversee and establish
standards for most federal mentor-protégé programs and establish a mentor-protégé program for
al smal business concerns; required the SBA’s Chief Counsel for Advocacy to enter into a
contract with an appropriate entity to conduct an independent assessment of the smal business
procurement goals, including an assessment of which contracts should be subject to the goals; and
addressed the SBA’s recent practice of combining size standards within industrial groups as a
means to reduce the complexity of its size standards by requiring the SBA to make available a
justification when establishing or approving a size standard that the size standard is appropriate
for each individual industry classification.

171 P.L. 111-240, the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, made several changes relating to the SBA’s loan guar anty
programs. T he legislation increased loan limits for the 7(a) program from $2 million to $5 million and raised the
504/CDC program’s loan limits from $2 million to $5 million for standard borrowers and from $4 million to $5.5
million for manufacturers. It temporarily expanded for two years the eligibility for low-interest refinancing under the
SBA’s 504/CDC program for qualified debt. It also amended the SBAExpress program, the SBA Microloan program,
the SBA secondary market program, the SBA size standards, and the SBA International T rade Finance program. For
further information and analysis concerning P.L. 111-240, see CRS Report R40985, Sm all Business: Access to Capital
and Job Creation, by Robert Jay Dilger.
172 P.L. 112-17, the Small Business Additional T emporary Extension Act of 2011.
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During the 113th Congress, P.L. 113-76, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, increased the
SBA’s SBIC program’s annual authorization amount to $4 bil ion from $3 bil ion.
During the 114th Congress
 P.L. 114-38, the Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015, authorized and made
permanent the SBA’s administrative decision to waive the SBAExpress loan
program’s one time, up-front loan guaranty fee for veterans (and their spouse).
The act also increased the 7(a) loan program’s FY2015 authorization limit from
$18.75 bil ion to $23.5 bil ion (later increased to $26.5 bil ion).
 P.L. 114-88, the Recovery Improvements for Smal Entities After Disaster Act of
2015 (RISE After Disaster Act of 2015), includes several provisions designed to
assist individuals and smal businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and,
among other things, authorizes the SBA to provide up to two years of additional
financial assistance, on a competitive basis, to SBDCs, WBCs, SCORE, or any
proposed consortium of such individuals or entities to assist smal businesses
located in a presidential y declared major disaster area; authorizes SBDCs to
provide assistance to smal businesses outside the SBDC’s state, without regard
to geographical proximity to the SBDC, if the smal business is in a presidential y
declared major disaster area; and temporarily increases, for three years, the
minimum disaster loan amount for which the SBA may require collateral, from
$14,000 to $25,000 (or, as under existing law, any higher amount the SBA
determines appropriate in the event of a disaster).
 P.L. 114-92, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016,
includes a provision that expands the definition of a Base Realignment and
Closure Act (BRAC) military base closure area under the HUBZone program to
include the lands within the external boundaries of the closed base and the census
tract or nonmetropolitan county in which the lands of the closed base are wholly
contained, intersect it, or are contiguous to it. This change is designed to make it
easier for businesses located in those areas to meet the HUBZone program’s
requirement that at least 35% of its employees reside in a HUBZone area. The act
also extends BRAC base closure area HUBZone eligibility from five years to not
less than eight years, provides HUBZone eligibility to qualified disaster areas,
and adds Native Hawai an Organizations to the list of HUBZone eligible smal
business concerns.173 Starting one year from enactment (effective November 25,
2016), the act also adds requirements concerning the pledge of assets by
individual sureties participating in the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program
and increases the guaranty rate from not less than 70% to not less than 90% for
preferred sureties participating in that program.
 P.L. 114-113, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, expands the projects
eligible for refinancing under the 504/CDC loan guaranty program in any fiscal
year in which the refinancing program and the 504/CDC program as a whole do
not have credit subsidy costs, general y limits refinancing under this provision to
no more than 50% of the dollars loaned under the 504/CDC program during the
previous fiscal year, and increases the SBIC program’s family of funds limit (the
amount of outstanding leverage al owed for two or more SBIC licenses under

173 T he act redefined a BRAC base closure area under the HUBZone program to include the lands within the external
boundaries of the closed base and the census tract or nonmetropolitan county in which the lands of the closed base are
wholly contained, intersect it, or are contiguous to it.
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common control) to $350 mil ion from $225 mil ion. The act also provided the
7(a) loan program a FY2016 authorization limit of $26.5 billion.
 P.L. 114-125, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, renamed
the “State Trade and Export Promotion” grant initiative to the “State Trade
Expansion Program.” P.L. 114-125 also reformed some of the program’s
procedures and provided $30 mil ion in annual authorization for STEP grants
from FY2016 through FY2020.174 In terms of program administration, P.L. 114-
125 al ows the SBA’s Associate Administrator (AA) for International Trade to
give priority to STEP proposals from states that have a relatively smal share of
smal businesses that export or would assist rural, women-owned, and social y
and economical y disadvantaged smal businesses and smal business concerns.
 P.L. 114-328, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017,
authorizes the SBA to establish different size standards for various types of
agricultural enterprises (previously statutorily set at not more than $750,000 in
annual receipts), standardizes definitions used by the SBA and the Department of
Veterans Affairs concerning service-disabled veteran owned smal businesses,
requires the SBA to track companies that outgrow or no longer qualify for SBA
assistance due to the receipt of a federal contract or being purchased by another
entity after an initial federal contract is awarded, and, among other provisions,
clarifies the duties of the Offices of Smal and Disadvantaged Utilization within
federal agencies.
During the 115th Congress
 P.L. 115-31, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, increased the 7(a)
program’s authorization limit to $27.5 bil ion in FY2017 from $26.5 bil ion in
FY2016.
 P.L. 115-56, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental
Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017, provided the SBA an
additional $450 mil ion for disaster assistance.
 P.L. 115-123, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, provided the SBA an additional
$1.652 bil ion for disaster assistance and $7.0 mil ion to the SBA’s OIG for
disaster assistance oversight.
 P.L. 115-141, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, increased the 7(a)
program’s authorization limit to $29.0 bil ion in FY2018. The act also relaxed
requirements on Microloan intermediaries that prohibited them from spending
more than 25% of their technical assistance grant funds on prospective borrowers
and more than 25% of those grant funds on contracts with third parties to provide
that technical assistance by increasing those percentages to 50%.
 P.L. 115-189, the Smal Business 7(a) Lending Oversight Reform Act of 2018,
among other provisions, codified the SBA’s Office of Credit Risk Management;
required that office to annual y undertake and report the findings of a risk
analysis of the 7(a) program’s loan portfolio; created a lender oversight
committee within the SBA; authorized the Director of the Office of Credit Risk
Management to undertake informal and formal enforcement actions against 7(a)
lenders under specified conditions; redefined the credit elsewhere requirement;

174 P.L. 114-125 also included provisions intended to improve coordination between the federal government and th e
states, among other provisions.
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and authorized the SBA Administrator to increase the amount of 7(a) loans not
more than once during any fiscal year to not more than 115% of the 7(a)
program’s authorization limit. The SBA is required to provide at least 30 days’
notice of its intent to exceed the 7(a) loan program’s authorization limit to the
House and Senate Committees on Smal Business and the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations’ Subcommittees on Financial Services and
General Government and may exercise this option only once per fiscal year.
 P.L. 115-232, the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2019, included provisions to make 7(a) loans more accessible to employee-
owned smal businesses (ESOPs) and cooperatives. The act clarifies that 7(a)
loans to ESOPs may be made under the Preferred Lenders Program; al ows
sel ers to remain involved as an officer, director, or key employee when the
ESOP or cooperative has acquired 100% ownership of the smal business; and,
among other provisions, authorizes the SBA to finance transition costs to
employee ownership and waive any mandatory equity injection by the ESOP or
cooperative to help finance the change of ownership.
During the 116th Congress
 P.L. 116-6, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, among other provisions,
provided the SBA $715.37 mil ion in FY2019 and increased the 7(a) program’s
authorization limit to $30.0 bil ion.
 P.L. 116-93, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, among other provisions,
provided the SBA $998.46 mil ion in FY2020, including $99 mil ion for 7(a)
program loan credit subsidies.
 P.L. 116-123, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental
Appropriations Act, 2020, provided EIDL eligibility to smal businesses
adversely affected by the coronavirus and appropriated $20 mil ion to the SBA
for disaster loan assistance administrative costs.
 P.L. 116-136, the CARES Act, appropriated $377.527 bil ion for SBA program
enhancements, including $349 bil ion for the Paycheck Protection Program
(PPP), $17 bil ion for six months of 7(a), 504/CDC, and Microloan loan
payments, $10 bil ion for Emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)
grants, $675 mil ion for salaries and expenses, $562 mil ion for disaster
assistance, $265 mil ion for entrepreneurial development programs, and $25
mil ion for the SBA Office of Inspector General.
 P.L. 116-139, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement
Act, among other provisions, increased the PPP authorization limit to $659
bil ion and appropriated an additional $383.435 bil ion for SBA program
enhancements, including $321.335 bil ion for the PPP, $50 bil ion for EIDL, $10
bil ion for Emergency EIDL grants, and $2.1 bil ion for SBA salaries and
expenses.
 P.L. 116-142, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, among other
provisions, extended the PPP loan forgiveness covered period from 8 weeks after
the loan’s origination date to the earlier of 24 weeks or December 31, 2020.
Current PPP borrowers may elect to remain under the 8-week covered period.
The act also provided a minimum five-year maturity for al PPP loans made on or
after enactment (June 5, 2020).
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 P.L. 116-147, to extend the authority for commitments for the paycheck
protection program, extended the PPP covered loan period from June 30, 2020, to
August 8, 2020, and authorized $659 bil ion for PPP loan commitments and $30
bil ion for 7(a) loan commitments.
 P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, among other
provisions, extends the PPP through March 31, 2021, increases the program’s
authorization amount from $659 bil ion to $806.45 bil ion, and al ows second-
draw PPP loans of up to $2 mil ion. The act also appropriated $324.975 bil ion
for SBA program enhancements, including $284.45 bil ion for the PPP, $20
bil ion for the Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance payment
program, $15 bil ion for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, $3.5
bil ion for SBA debt relief payments, $1.918 bil ion for the business loans
program account, $57 mil ion for the Microloan program ($50 mil ion for
technical assistance grants and $7 mil ion for loan credit subsidies), and $50
mil ion for salaries the expenses.
During the 117th Congress
 P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, appropriated $53.6 bil ion for
SBA program enhancements, including $28.6 bil ion for a Restaurant
Revitalization grant program to provide grants of up to $10 mil ion per entity (up
to $5 mil ion per physical location, limited to 20 locations) to restaurants and
other food and beverage-related establishments that have experienced COVID-
19-related revenue loss; $10 bil ion for the Targeted Economic Injury Disaster
Loan Advance payment program; $5 bil ion for the Targeted Economic Injury
Disaster Loan Advance supplemental payment program; $7.25 bil ion for the
PPP; $1.25 bil ion for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program; $840
mil ion for administrative costs to prevent, prepare and respond to the COVID-19
pandemic, including expenses related to PPP, Shuttered Venue Operators Grants
(SVOG), and grants to restaurants; $460 mil ion for the disaster loan program
($70 mil ion for credit subsidies and $390 mil ion for administrative costs); $100
mil ion for a community navigator pilot grant program to improve smal business
access to COVID-19-related assistance programs; $75 mil ion for outreach,
education, and improving the SBA website; and $25 mil ion for SBA’s Office of
Inspector General for oversight.175
 P.L. 117-6, the PPP Extension Act of 2021, extended the acceptance of PPP
applications through May 31, 2021, and authorized the SBA to process any
pending applications submitted on or before that date through June 30, 2021.
Appropriations176
The SBA’s FY2021 appropriation of $379.497 bil ion includes an initial appropriation of
$921.733 mil ion and $378.575 bil ion in supplemental appropriations to assist smal businesses
adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

175 U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, “Committee Approves $50 Billion in Small Business
Aid for COVID Relief Package,” February 10, 2021, at https://smallbusiness.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?
DocumentID=3559.
176 For further information concerning SBA appropriations, see CRS Report R43846, Small Business Administration
(SBA) Funding: Overview and Recent Trends, by Robert Jay Dilger.
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As shown in Table 8, the SBA’s initial FY2021 appropriation includes
 $270.157 mil ion for salaries and expenses,
 $272.0 mil ion for entrepreneurial development and noncredit programs,
 $160.3 mil ion for business loan administration,
 $20.0 mil ion for business loan credit subsidies ($15.0 mil ion for the 7(a) loan
guaranty program and $5.0 mil ion for the Microloan program),
 $22.011 mil ion for Office of Inspector General,
 $9.19 mil ion for the Office of Advocacy, and
 $168.075 mil ion for disaster assistance.177
The SBA’s FY2021 supplemental appropriation of $378.575 bil ion includes
 $890 mil ion for salaries and expenses (for auditing and fraud mitigation);
 $45.075 bil ion for entrepreneurial development and noncredit programs ($28.6
bil ion for a Restaurant Revitalization grant program, $16.25 bil ion for grants to
qualified shuttered live venue operators or promoters, theatrical producers, live
performing arts and museum operators, motion picture theatre operators, or talent
representatives, $100 mil ion for the community navigator pilot grant program,
$75 mil ion for outreach and education grants, and $50 mil ion for Microloan
Technical Assistance Program grants);
 $297.125 bil ion for business loan credit subsidies ($291.7 bil ion for the PPP,
$3.5 bil ion for 7(a) loan guarantee, 504/CDC loan guarantee, and Microloan
program debt relief payments, $1.918 bil ion for 7(a) and 504/CDC loan
guarantee program enhancements, and $7 mil ion for the Microloan program);
 $35.460 bil ion for disaster assistance ($35 bil ion for the Targeted EIDL
Advance payment (grant) program, of which $20 mil ion wil be transferred to
the Office of Inspector General for oversight and audit of these funds, $390
mil ion for administrative expenses, and $70 mil ion for disaster loan credit
subsidies); and
 $25 mil ion for the SBA Office of Inspector General for auditing and fraud
mitigation.178
As shown in Table 8, the Biden Administration has requested $995.450 mil ion for the SBA in
FY2022, an increase of $73.717 mil ion over the SBA’s initial appropriation of $921.733 mil ion
in FY2021.
Table 8. SBA Appropriations, FY2020-FY2022
($ in mil ions)
FY2022 Biden
Program
FY2020
FY2020 with
FY2021
FY2021 with
Administration
Account
Initial
Supplementals
Initial
Supplementals
Request
Salaries and
$270.157
$3,045.157
$270.157
$1,160.157
$293.625
Expenses

177 P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.
178 P.L. 116-260, the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (Division N, T itle III of
the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021); and P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
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FY2022 Biden
Program
FY2020
FY2020 with
FY2021
FY2021 with
Administration
Account
Initial
Supplementals
Initial
Supplementals
Request
Entrepreneurial
$261.000
$526.000
$272.000
$45,347.000
$318.000
Development
Business Loan
$155.150
$155.150
$160.300
$160.300
$165.300
Administration
Business Loan
$104.000
$687,439.000
$20.000
$297,145.000
$6.000
Credit Subsidy
Office of Inspector
$21.900
$46.900
$22.011
$47.011
$24.905
General
Office of Advocacy
$9.120
$9.120
$9.190
$9.190
$9.620
Disaster
$177.136
177.136
$168.075
$168.075
$178.000
Assistance
Disaster
$0.000
$70,582.000
$0.000
$35,460.000
$0.000
Assistance

Supplemental
Total
$998.463
$761,980.463
$921.733
$379,496.733
$995.450
Sources: P.L. 113-76, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, P.L. 113-235, the Consolidated and Further
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015; P.L. 114-113, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016; P.L. 115-31, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017; P.L. 115-56, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental
Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017; P.L. 115-123, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018; P.L.
115-141, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018; P.L. 116-6, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019;
P.L. 116-93, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020; P.L. 116-123, the Coronavirus Preparedness and
Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020; P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act (CARES Act); P.L. 116-139, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act;
P.L. 116-260, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; P.L. 117-2, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; and
U.S. Smal Business Administration, FY2022 Congressional Justification and FY2020 Annual Performance Report, p. 8,
at https://www.sba.gov/document/report-congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-report.
Note: The sum of the amounts appropriated for each of the program accounts may not equal the total amount
appropriated for that fiscal year due to rounding.

Author Information

Robert Jay Dilger

Senior Specialist in American National Government

Acknowledgments
Sean Lowry, former CRS analyst, co-authored earlier versions of this report.
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Disclaimer
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under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
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Congressional Research Service
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