Rep. Scholten’s Investing in All of America Act Signed into Law

WASHINGTON, DC – The Investing in All of America Act, bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Representatives Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03) and Dan Meuser (R-PA-09), was signed into law on May 19 as Public Law 119-92. Congresswoman Scholten’s new law expands access to capital for small businesses, particularly those in rural and low-income communities and those supporting America’s national security sector.

“A challenge I hear repeatedly from small businesses in West Michigan is their ability to access capital, and our commonsense legislation directly addresses that problem," said Congresswoman Scholten. “The Investing in All of America Act ensures Main Street businesses, especially those in rural and low-income areas, are not left behind by the federal programs designed to help them. I’m proud of all of the bipartisan work that went into its passage, and I will keep fighting to help our small businesses succeed in the modern economy.” 

“As someone who spent more than 20 years helping grow a small business into a larger business, I understand firsthand the challenges entrepreneurs face when trying to secure capital,” said Congressman Meuser. “This legislation will drive further investment into the hands of small businesses in crucial sectors of the economy and areas that are often overlooked without any additional burden on American taxpayers. I’m pleased that we’ve secured this important bipartisan victory for America’s small business owners, and I’m grateful to my colleagues and President Trump for helping us invest in the communities that need it most.”

Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) are privately owned companies that are licensed and regulated by the Small Business Administration (SBA), and they raise private capital that is then matched with leverage by the SBA. SBICs then deploy those private funds, along with the SBA-guaranteed funding, to invest directly in small businesses. The SBIC program operates at a zero-subsidy cost to the American taxpayer. 

The SBIC program has been successful in responsibly deploying capital to small businesses, but recent studies have shown that less than 20% of SBIC investment reaches low- and middle-income communities – the Investing in All of America Act encourages the deployment of more capital in these areas. To incentivize this deployment, the legislation will not count dollars invested in rural and/or low-income areas or in the national security technologies sector against SBIC’s leverage cap, allowing much-needed additional capital to flow into these areas.

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