President signs bill to aimed at aiding small businesses

CNN.com reports that President Barack Obama signed a bill Sept. 27 that could substantially aid small businesses. The $42 billion aims to create jobs by providing tax credits and helping banks increase loans.
“It’s going to cut taxes,” Obama said at the White House signing ceremony. “It’s going to make more loans available for small businesses. It’s a great victory for America’s entrepreneurs.”
The Senate approved the bill on a 61-38 vote last week, with two Republicans breaking a GOP filibuster to join the 59 Democrats in supporting the measure. The House then voted 237-187 on mostly partisan lines to send the bill to Obama’s desk.
The bill has not been without criticism.
“Unfortunately, this bill does nothing to help end the uncertainty that is crippling job creation and hurting small businesses,” House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said last week. “Instead it puts taxpayers on the hook for even more bailouts.”
“Small businesses are the linchpin of our nation’s economic growth and well-being,” said Steve Bartlett, president of the Financial Services Roundtable, a group of the nation’s largest financial institutions.
The bill aims to create a $30 billion fund that the Treasury Department would run that would authorize cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets, with the hopes that the community banks will lend money to small businesses.
The bill would also provide tax breaks that will cost $12 billion over 10 years, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation. The tax breaks aim to support small businesses in purchasing new equipment, to give venture capital firms incentive to invest in small businesses, and to motivate entrepreneurs to start businesses.