By Jennifer White, WIPP Advocacy Team

On Tuesday, the president’s full budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018 was released. The numbers below outline proposed funding changes for Small Business Administration programs, as well as the justifications sent to Congress on specified funding changes on our blog.

As a reminder, the president proposes and Congress appropriates. Congress will be making the final funding decisions. Here are WIPP’s recommendations for Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations.

Need to brush up on the budget process? Click here for WIPP’s webinar on the issue.

FY18 White House Budget Proposal

* WBC justification by SBA to Congress

The FY 2018 request strengthens SBA outreach center programs by reducing duplicative services, coordinating best practices, and investing in communities that will benefit from SBA’s business center support. As a result, the SBA is confident that it will be better positioned to strengthen local partnerships and more efficiently serve program participants while achieving savings over the FY 2017 Enacted levels.

* PRIME justification by SBA to Congress

The PRIME program’s function and activities are not discernibly different from many other SBA entrepreneurial assistance programs such as Microloan technical assistance, the Women’s Business Center program, or the Small Business Development Center program. In particular, while the PRIME program is designed specifically for micro-level businesses, it is less targeted than the Microloan program’s technical assistance funding which supports micro-borrowers with both microloans and other support from the intermediaries. In addition, the SBA has been strengthening its partnerships with major U.S. banks, as well as community lenders, to help them to deliver billions more in financing to under-served communities.

* HUBZone Justification by SBA to Congress:

Following an FY 2017 development effort to enhance HUBZone maps, SBA anticipates decreased development needs for this effort in FY 2018.

* CDFI Justification by SBA to Congress

Unlike other CDFI Fund programs, the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program (BGP) — enacted through the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 — does not offer grants, but is instead a zero-subsidy federal credit program, designed to function at no cost to taxpayers. Under the BGP, the secretary of the Treasury provides a 100% guarantee of long-term bonds issued to CDFIs, with a maximum maturity of 30 years. The BGP does not require discretionary budget authority for its credit subsidy, but the annual loan guarantee limitations are appropriated. Through September 30, 2016, Treasury had issued $1.1 billion in bond guarantee commitments to 17 CDFIs that have supported investments in low-income and underserved communities, including for the development of multi-family rental properties, charter schools, and healthcare facilities. The budget proposes to extend and reform the BGP through 2018 with an annual commitment limitation of $500 million and a minimum individual bond size of $50 million, while maintaining strong protections against credit risk.

* SBDCs justification by SBA to Congress

The FY 2018 request strengthens SBA outreach center programs by reducing duplicative services, coordinating best practices, and investing in communities that will benefit from SBA’s business center support. As a result, the SBA is confident that it will be better positioned to strengthen local partnerships and more efficiently serve program participants while achieving savings over the FY 2017 Enacted levels.

FY18 Legislative Proposals PROPOSAL

SBDC and WBC Data Collection

Currently, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) collect data on each individual and small business to whom they provide counseling and training services. Except for the limited purposes identified in the Small Business Act, SBDCs and WBCs may not disclose to SBA certain information (e.g., name, address, telephone number) that they collect. However, the SBA needs access to this type of information to be able to contact the individuals or small businesses to determine their level of success after receiving counseling and training assistance. Disclosure of the information to SBA would greatly enhance the agency’s efforts to conduct rigorous program evaluations, including the impact of the counseling and training on those who received such assistance, identify best practices, and improve efficiency of the SBDC and WBC programs. As a result, SBA is proposing to add program evaluations and similar program assessments to the list of allowable purposes for which the data may be disclosed to SBA.