Hillary Scholten: “I thank Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for holding this really important hearing during National Small…”

“I thank Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for holding this really important hearing during National Small Business Week. Mr. Speaker, 99.6 percent, that is the number of businesses in Michigan that are considered small businesses. That is nearly 1 million small businesses that call our State home. As diverse as these businesses are, there is one thing that binds them all together. These small business owners consistently tell me that access to capital is the number one thing that they need and rely on to keep their doors open. This is especially true for our small businesses in low-income and rural communities. That is why this bipartisan bill with my colleague, Dan Meuser, the Investing in All of America Act, is so important. It will build on the success of the Small Business Investment Companies program to ensure that more capital can reach the small businesses that need it most. Our legislation will incentivize deployment of additional capital by changing how investments are counted against the SBIC's leverage cap. In doing so, small businesses will be able to access more capital than before, especially those in underserved communities, and, as my colleague noted, without costing the taxpayers additional dollars. Recent studies have shown that less than 20 percent of SBIC funds reach low-income and rural communities. That disparity is unacceptable, and if we pass this bill we can change this statistic.…”