House Committee Holds Hearing with Associate Administrator for Capital Access Katie Frost
May 16, 2024
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
House Committee Holds Hearing with Associate Administrator for Capital Access Katie Frost
“Good morning and welcome to today’s hearing which will focus on oversight of the SBA’s Office of Credit Risk Management. This office oversees the SBA’s lending programs, including the flagship 7(a) loan program. In 2023, this program alone lent over $27 billion dollars to Main Street businesses. In April of last year, the SBA finalized two rules that make drastic changes to this program, which many members of this committee have expressed concerns over,” says Chairman Williams in his opening statement during the House Committee on Small Business hearing.
In a statement after the hearing, he states “Today’s hearing was especially important as this Committee continues conducting oversight of all aspects of the SBA. It is disappointing to see that the SBA has removed clear and necessary guardrails from its lending programs, especially when taxpayers are on the hook for most of the loan if they default. Moreover, I hope the SBA will recognize that it should not be a direct lender competing with the private sector, but instead a lender of last resort.”
Some of the topics discussed during the hearing are:
- Underwriting criteria
- The number of participating lenders
- Direct lending & budget justification
- SBLC licenses & Funding Circle
- SBA’s handling of EIDLs under $100,000