Sponsors (21)
The bill broadens SBA loan and surety bond access for many immigrant‑owned and majority‑U.S.‑owned small businesses and clarifies program rules—boosting contracting and capital access—while modestly increasing taxpayer exposure, oversight challenges for foreign‑resident principals, and administrative verification burdens, and leaving some foreign‑owned or foreign‑located businesses excluded.
Many small-business owners who are noncitizens (refugees, asylees, certain nonimmigrants, lawful permanent residents, and DACA‑like deferred action recipients) can access SBA 7(a), 7(m), Title V loans and SBA surety bond guarantees, increasing access to capital for immigrant‑owned firms.
Including SBA surety bond guarantees helps small businesses—including immigrant‑owned firms—bid for and win government and private contracts by lowering bonding costs and barriers.
The bill clarifies statutory definitions (e.g., small business, covered loan, eligible individual), reducing legal uncertainty and improving predictability for applicants, lenders, and administrators of SBA programs.
Expanding explicit eligibility to multiple noncitizen categories could modestly increase demand for SBA guarantees and thereby raise taxpayer exposure to loan losses.
Making individuals who reside primarily abroad eligible may enable foreign‑based principals to access U.S. SBA support, increasing program risk and oversight challenges.
Businesses majority‑owned by non‑U.S. persons remain excluded from covered loans, which can limit investment and credit access for firms with substantial foreign ownership.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Allows certain lawfully present, work-authorized noncitizens to be majority owners of U.S.-based small businesses eligible for specific SBA loan and surety bond programs and bars denial solely for owner immigration status.
Official title: Clarify eligibility for small business loans, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Edward John Markey · Last progress April 28, 2026
Expands eligibility rules for certain SBA lending and surety bond guarantee programs so that small businesses located in the United States can be majority-owned and controlled by specified noncitizens who are lawfully present and authorized to work. It prevents denial of eligibility solely because owners are those eligible noncitizens and preserves the 51% ownership/control threshold as written (the SBA cannot raise that requirement).