The National Association of Development Companies (NADCO) has announced that the Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development (CREED) Act has been passed in the congress and will permanently reinstate the debt-financing element in the 504 loan program of the Small Business Association.
"Extending 504 refinancing has been a top priority of mine throughout my time in Congress, and so I am thrilled that the language from my bill, H.R. 2266, has been included in the omnibus bill," said Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), who introduced the CREED Act in the House. "To meet our job creation goals, we must put more capital in the hands of job creators. Reinstating the SBA's successful 504 refinancing program will do that by helping small business owners refinance billions of dollars in old debt at no cost to the taxpayer. This is a benefit to the entire economy. Now owners can focus their resources on hiring employees and growing their businesses."
According to their press release in PR NewsWire, the passage is the outcome of bipartisan collaboration led by the House Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH) and Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) from the House Small Business Committee, along with Senate counterparts Chairman David Vitter (R-LA) and Shaheen from the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
"I'm glad we have been able to work in a bipartisan way to address one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses - getting access to credit so they can reach their full potential," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee. "I'm particularly grateful to my colleagues for working with me to pass the CREED Act, which will finally re-instate the SBA's successful 504 Refinancing program to help small businesses grow and create jobs. Now that our legislation is on track to become law, this program will soon be up and running, helping small businesses thrive. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and I'm very pleased that they will soon have this option for accessing affordable credit."
Sen. Shaheen, along with Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), introduced the CREED Act in the Senate.
