During Wednesday’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) questioned SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler about tax cuts.
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00:00I want to particularly applaud the SBA's efforts in the Made in America
00:04Manufacturing Initiative and especially want to thank you for spending National
00:08Small Business Week in my home state of Tennessee in Nashville meeting with
00:12small businesses across the state. They really appreciated your presence there
00:16helping Tennessee small business owners and I think everybody knows this but
00:20these small businesses are the backbone of America and I appreciate your
00:25commitment to helping our small businesses thrive. To advance this
00:28objective the president has proposed moving new lending of up to ten million
00:34dollars per small US manufacturer from the SBA. Are you intending to provide this
00:40funding from an existing program or from a new program? Chairman thank you for the
00:45question and it was a great honor to celebrate National Small Business Week in
00:49Nashville and talk to everyone from contractors to restaurants and see the
00:53businesses thriving and that's what the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act is
01:01about is to help our businesses thrive even more. The last time that a loan size
01:06increase happened was about 15 years ago so we're raising our manufacturing loan
01:11limits under the proposed bipartisan legislation from five million to ten
01:15million that would be provided still at zero subsidy to taxpayers like our entire 7a and
01:21504 loan program operates meaning no cost to taxpayers because those loan
01:27programs are supported by annual lender fees and guarantee fees. So no new
01:32appropriation required? No additional appropriation. Unfortunately the Biden
01:35administration had waived some of those fees and reduced them so that loan
01:39program under the four-year cohort of the Biden administration is negative cash
01:43flow to the tune of 2.2 billion. We will never let that happen and we will alert this
01:47committee should we have any further issues beyond that but our program will
01:53operate at zero subsidy for taxpayers. Got it, got it. As Congress examines tax
01:58policy can you explain how immediate expensing and tax cuts can on domestic
02:03production will be able to strengthen domestic manufacturing? Well absolutely
02:07that's what I hear as I travel across the country meeting with manufacturers they
02:11are telling me that their business is spring-loaded for investment. These tax
02:17cuts are absolutely critical to not just manufacturers but to all small
02:21businesses who want to invest that next dollar but have the uncertainty that the
02:26tax bill still has not been passed. So small businesses are telling me they
02:31need that tax bill more than anything and we know that it's not just
02:35spring-loaded but between the access to capital we're providing the tax cuts the
02:39deflation the counter inflationary economic environment where investment is
02:43encouraged that this economy is spring-loaded once the tax cuts come
02:48through. I couldn't agree with you more and I frankly think that as the
02:51investment occurs more jobs will be created more economic activity therefore
02:55occurs this positive feedback loops going to be extraordinary for the
02:58American economy and we'll be back on the same track we have been in the
03:01past and I look forward to seeing your leadership in that. Administrator the
03:05Biden administration's agency the Biden administration's agency rulemakings
03:09incurred nearly 1.4 trillion in incremental compliance cost that's a
03:14drag on economic growth. The Trump administration and Congress have a clear
03:18mandate to streamline government operations and roll back excessive
03:22regulations and I don't think this is deregulation for its own sake it's about
03:26making the government serve our citizens more effectively but some have
03:30raised concerns that streamlining at SBA including some reductions in force
03:33that you mentioned earlier could undermine the agency's ability to function. I want
03:38to know how you respond to this question and how ongoing streamlining
03:41efforts actually contribute to SBA's efficiency. Chairman this is an important
03:46question. Taxpayers want to know that government is serving them and serving
03:51them efficiently and that's what we're doing at the SBA. The agency had doubled
03:55under the last administration in terms of size and workforce but yet as we come
04:00into President Trump's administration we've increased loan volume by 80% in our
04:047A loan program. We're doing more with less just like small businesses across
04:09Main Street have to do. We're more accountable to taxpayers. We're reining in
04:13waste, fraud, and abuse and so what small businesses can expect to see is more of
04:19the SBA on Main Street. We're deconsolidating it out of Washington back into the field. So small businesses will actually have more resources where they're located. We're working for Main Street.
04:22Not the bureaucracy. Much appreciated. I'll turn it over to Ranking