Harris to announce record lending from Small Business Administration

With the economy the top issue for many voters in the home stretch of the election, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce record lending from the federal government to small business owners on Thursday, according to a White House fact sheet shared exclusively with ABC News.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) provided a record $56 billion in loans to small businesses from October 2023 through September 2024, the fact sheet said, with more than 100,000 small businesses receiving the loans -- the highest number in 16 years -- while lending to Black-owned businesses has tripled in the past four years.

The SBA lends money to small businesses as a way for them to get off the ground, expand or rebuild -- especially when other financing options might not be available -- and companies must meet eligibility requirements, such as being based in the United States or only having a certain number of employees, to qualify for the loans.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. And we know that small business owners need access to capital to hire more employees, grow their businesses, and advance innovation," Harris said in a statement to ABC News. "Today I am proud to announce that the U.S. Small Business Administration has made record lending to over 100,000 small businesses in the last year, the most by the agency in over 15 years. When small businesses thrive, our local economies thrive."

The agency has been under pressure after the White House said last week that its disaster loan program, which provides low-interest lending to disaster survivors, ran out of funds in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The announcement from Harris comes as she seeks to dispel voters’ doubts over the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the economy and inflation. Polls consistently show former President Donald Trump outranks Harris in handling the economy.

The latest report from the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses nationwide, found uncertainty among its members is at an all-time high ahead of the election.

Last month, Vice President Harris unveiled a proposal to increase the tax deduction for new small businesses ten-fold, from $5000 to $50,000.

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