S. 4534

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4534 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4534

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a direct loan program for 
microbusinesses at the Small Business Administration, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 14, 2026

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Ms. Alsobrooks) introduced the 
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
Small Business and Entrepreneurship

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act to establish a direct loan program for 
microbusinesses at the Small Business Administration, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Microbusiness Support Act''.

SEC. 2. DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM FOR MICROBUSINESSES.

Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(38) Microbusiness loan program.--
``(A) Definition.--
``(i) In general.--In this paragraph, the 
term `microbusiness' means an independently 
owned and operated for-profit business entity 
that--
``(I) employs not more than 10 
full-time employees, determined on a 
full-time equivalent basis; and
``(II) has annual revenue of not 
more than the lesser of--
``(aa) $5,000,000; or
``(bb) the size standard in 
dollars, if any, for the North 
American Industry 
Classification System code 
assigned to the business entity 
for the business entity to 
qualify as a small business 
concern.
``(ii) Full-time.--For purposes of clause 
(i), the term `full-time' means that an 
individual--
``(I) is employed for consideration 
for not less than 35 hours each week; 
or
``(II) renders any other standard 
of service generally accepted by custom 
or specified by contract as full-time 
employment.
``(iii) Verification.--The Administrator 
may request from a business entity such 
documentation as may be necessary to establish 
that the business entity qualifies as a 
microbusiness under this subparagraph.
``(B) Authority.--The Administrator is authorized 
to originate and disburse direct loans, including 
through partnerships with third parties, to 
microbusinesses under this subsection.
``(C) Maximum amount.--The maximum amount of a loan 
made under this paragraph to a microbusiness is 
$100,000.
``(D) Fees.--With respect to each loan made under 
this paragraph, the Administrator, an authorized third 
party, or an agent may--
``(i) impose, collect, retain, and utilize 
fees, which may be charged to the borrower, to 
cover any costs associated with referring 
applications or originating, making, 
underwriting, disbursing, closing, servicing, 
or liquidating the loan, including any direct 
lending agent costs, other program or contract 
costs, or other agent administrative expenses;
``(ii) impose, collect, retain, and utilize 
fees (including unused fees and draw fees), 
which may be charged to the borrower on loans 
for revolving lines of credit; and
``(iii) pay third parties, including direct 
lending agents and financial institutions, with 
which the Administration partners for 
assistance in referring applicants or 
promoting, originating, making, underwriting, 
disbursing, closing, servicing, or liquidating 
loans in accordance with this paragraph on 
behalf of the Administration.
``(E) Terms.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 
the Administrator shall issue interim final 
rules and revise any relevant rules to 
establish the terms and conditions for a direct 
loan made under this paragraph, including with 
respect to repayment, underwriting criteria, 
interest rate, maturity, and other terms.
``(ii) Interest rate.--The interest rate 
for a loan made under this paragraph shall be 
in accordance with paragraph (4)(A), except `6 
percent per annum' shall be substituted for `1 
percent per annum'.''.
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