On February 12, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a bill (H.R. 3915) to temporarily reauthorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its programs through May 21, 2004. The House approved the measure on March 10 (see The Source, 3/12/04). It will now go to the White House for President Bush’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 were extended upon enactment of the FY2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-199), 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 were set to expire at the end of 2003.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) stated, “We must act to ensure that the SBA and its programs continue. The bill before us achieves that goal by extending the authorization for the 504 program through May 21, 2004, and for the agency and its other programs through April 2, 2004. That will provide time for the other body to pass its legislation, for us to reconcile the differences, and for the President to sign a long-term reauthorization bill for the SBA.”
