Letter: Debt Ceiling and Proposed Cuts

May 10, 2023

Dear Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Majority Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell:

We write to you on behalf of American businesses — large, small, women and minority-owned — urging you to take immediate action to avoid the United States government from defaulting and avert an imminent crisis that could cripple our nation's economy.

We are opposed to the legislative efforts that would cut vital programs that are key to supporting small business growth at a critical juncture for the millions of small businesses who are finally seeing signs of true recovery after the last three years of economic instability. These cuts undercut the significant investment Congress has made in helping spur small business growth and ensure a healthy pipeline of entrepreneurs for decades to come. Those cuts include:

• Cutting nearly $2 billion in funding for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), leading to a reduction in essential funds for approximately 10,000 small enterprises and backing for 100,000 jobs.

• Shuttering the already launched Department of Commerce's Capital Readiness Program, a grant initiative that is a part of SSBCI and managed by the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), which aims to aid incubators and accelerators assisting minority and other marginalized entrepreneurs.

• Slashing the Emergency Capital Investment Program by up to $575 million, undermining the support for small businesses and other borrowers in underprivileged communities.

Further, the efforts as outlined in the recently passed, Limit, Save, Grow Act, would widen the gap in capital access by obstructing new lender registration by the Small Business Administration (SBA), weakening agency oversight, hindering SBA technology improvements and customer service for small business applicants, which can delay loan approvals and drive small businesses to look for costlier non-Small Business Administration funding alternatives.

As the representatives of tens of thousands of businesses across the country, we oppose this proposal. Tying efforts to avoid defaulting on our debt to an arbitrary budget number which cuts federal spending without consideration for the larger impact these cuts will have on the small business community, is ill advised at this critical junction in our economic recovery. 

We ask that you consider putting the economic health of small business first, and ensure the United States does not default on its debt.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. We look forward to your response and commitment to standing with minority-owned businesses and the hundreds of thousands of people they employ across our nation.

Sincerely,

Marla Bilonick
President & CEO, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB)

John Hope Bryant
Chairman & CEO, Operation Hope

Ron Busby
Sr, President & CEO, US Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC)

Rhett Buttle
President & CEO, Public Private Strategies (PPS) 

​

Ramiro A. Cavazos
President & CEO, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC)

Connie Evans
President & CEO, Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) 

Ron Fong
Executive Director, Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Collaborative

Bulbul Gupta
President & CEO, Pacific Community Ventures (PCV)

Chris James
President & CEO, National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED)

Lenwood V. Long, Sr.
President & CEO, American Alliance of CDFI CEOs (AACDFI)

Ying McGuire
President & CEO, National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)

Justin Nelson
Co-Founder & President, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)

Chiling Tong
President & CEO, National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of  Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE)

Candace Waterman
President & CEO, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)