The House Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Services Bill on June 17, on a vote of 30-to-20. The bill provides a total of $20.2 billion in funding for the Treasury Department, the Judiciary, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Securities and Exchange Committee, which is $1.3 billion below the FY15 allocation and $4.8 billion below the President’s budget request.
The bill provides $853,000,000 for the SBA, and allocates a total of $223,600,000 specifically for necessary expenses of programs supporting entrepreneurial and small business development. Of that amount, $117,000,000 is specifically designated to fund grants for performance in FY16 or FY17 pursuant to §21 of the Small Business Act, and $25,000,000 is allocated for marketing, management, and technical assistance under §7(m) of the Small Business Act by intermediaries that make microloans under the microloan program. The amount recommended for technical assistance as well as the $35 million in micro loan capital represent an increase over the Fiscal Year 2015 level and are the same as the budget request.
To read the bill summary, please click here. For the full bill, click here.