President Trump signed into law a bill to strengthen the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) oversight of its loan programs and increase maximum lending authority. Championed in the Senate by Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and in the House by Reps. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), the Small Business 7(a) Lending Oversight Reform Act, will strengthen and improve one of the core SBA loan programs responsible for providing access to capital to entrepreneurs.

In FY2017, the 7(a) program supported more than $25.44 billion combined across 62,430 loans. According to the SBA, 7(a) lending to women-owned businesses (both majority and minority-owned) grew in total dollar and volume in FY2017, exceeding $7.5 billion which is an increase of $298 million from FY2016.

The law will help the SBA increase efficiency of the (7)a Loan program and expand its reach by strengthening the SBA’s Office of Credit Risk Management which manages the loan program, enhancing the SBA’s lender oversight review process, providing the SBA Administrator with flexibility to increase the program’s maximum lending authority should it be reached, and requiring the SBA to perform a full annual risk analysis of the program.