Sponsors (19)
The bill expands and clarifies SBA access for many immigrant and small‑business owners and improves predictability for applicants and lenders, but it raises modest fiscal and oversight risks, excludes some foreign‑owned or international business models, and adds verification burdens.
Immigrant and other eligible noncitizen small-business owners (refugees, asylees, certain nonimmigrants, LPRs, DACA‑like deferred action recipients, and other lawfully present/work‑authorized immigrants) gain clearer and broader access to SBA 7(a), 7(m), Title V, and surety bond guarantees when they own at least 51% of a U.S.-based business, increasing their ability to obtain loans and finance.
Including SBA surety bond guarantees helps small businesses — including immigrant‑owned firms — reduce bonding costs and barriers, improving their ability to bid for and win government and private contracts.
The bill clarifies key statutory definitions and locks in the 51% ownership threshold, reducing legal uncertainty and providing stability and predictability for applicants, lenders, and administrators.
Expanding explicit eligibility to multiple noncitizen categories could modestly increase demand for SBA guarantees and thereby raise taxpayer exposure to potential loan losses.
Allowing individuals who reside primarily abroad to be eligible may enable foreign‑based principals to access U.S. SBA support, increasing program risk and creating oversight and fraud‑detection challenges for administrators.
Businesses that are majority‑owned by non‑U.S. persons (noncitizens or persons without lawful work authorization) remain excluded from covered loans, potentially limiting investment, growth opportunities, and access to credit for ventures involving foreign ownership.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows certain lawful noncitizens authorized to work to meet the 51% ownership/control test for specified SBA loan and guarantee programs and bars denial based solely on their status.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Edward John Markey · Last progress April 28, 2026
Makes certain noncitizen entrepreneurs and workers eligible to meet the 51% ownership and control test for several Small Business Administration (SBA) loan and guarantee programs, and forbids denying eligibility solely because owners are such eligible individuals. Defines which SBA products are covered and which immigration statuses count as "eligible individuals," and clarifies the SBA cannot raise the 51% ownership requirement beyond what the law already specifies.