Last progress August 1, 2025 (4 months ago)
Introduced on August 1, 2025 by Amy Klobuchar
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
This bill updates the SBA’s 504 loan program to help small manufacturers and other small businesses get affordable financing for buildings and equipment. It adds new goals like supporting workforce training programs that last at least 12 weeks, expanding minority-, women-, and employee-owned businesses, cutting energy costs with efficient or renewable energy, helping disaster-hit areas, and boosting very small firms with 10 or fewer employees . It also raises the loan limit for manufacturing projects, streamlines loan closings so lenders can fix routine paperwork and small cost changes, and shifts some review work inside SBA to speed things up .
The bill lowers cash down payments for small manufacturers and says SBA can’t require extra collateral for them. It also allows a guaranteed debenture up to half of total project cost for these manufacturers, and simplifies certain debt refinancing rules . For real estate, a business building a new facility can lease out up to 20% if it occupies at least 60% at first and plans to reach 80% within 10 years; small manufacturers can start at 50% instead of 60%. For existing buildings, a business can lease up to half and occupy at least half, with a special option to lease more than half if strict notice, review, and anti‑investor checks are followed; residential leases are capped at one year, commercial at five years . SBA district offices must partner with local resource groups (like SBDCs, Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, and Veteran centers) to train manufacturers on how to apply and work with development companies . Some internal SBA changes start 180 days after enactment, and SBA must report to Congress in five years on the impact of the leasing changes .
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