Congress restores small biz loan funding

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed a bipartisan amendment to restore funding to a popular small business loan program.

Reps. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, Chairman Donald Manzullo, R-Ill., and Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., passed the amendment with a vote of 281-137. The amendment restores funding for the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program at last year's level of $79.1 million.

"This amendment will help us to protect small businesses from facing increased fees, and will instead help them to access affordable capital so they can continue to create the jobs our economy so desperately needs," Velázquez said.