On November 20, the House approved, by unanimous consent, a bill (S. 1895) to temporarily reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its programs through March 15, 2004. The Senate approved S. 1895 on November 19 (see The Source, 10/21/03). It will now go to the White House for the President’s signature.
In September, the Senate approved a three-year reauthorization (S. 1375) of the SBA (see The Source, 9/26/03); however, the House has not yet acted on the bill. While SBA programs and activities that receive an appropriation through the FY2004 Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill will be extended upon enactment of that bill, there are several SBA programs, such as the 504 loan program and the Small Business Investment Company program, that do not receive an appropriation and are set to expire at the end of the year.
