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Improving access to capital. Through the Small Business
Lending Enhancement Act, which President Clinton signed, the SBA has
more than doubled the number of loans made under its cornerstone 7(a)
Guaranteed Business Loan Program, increasing from 27,000 loans in 1992
to 57,000 in 1995. |
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Encouraging small business creation. President Clinton’s
wise economic policies have cut the deficit by over 60 percent,
helping to lower interest rates and to free money for private
investment. A record number of new small businesses have been created
in each of the last three years. |
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Providing tax relief for small business. Since 1993, the
President has provided tax relief to small businesses by raising the
amount of property a small business can expense annually by 75
percent, from $10,000 to $25,000. |
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Listening to small business owners. President Clinton has
taken action on the vast majority of the 60 recommendations made by
the 2,000 delegates to the June 1995 White House Conference on Small
Business, with 15 of the recommendations already enacted into
law. |
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Investing in worker training. Recently, the President
signed legislation that permits employees to exclude up to $5,250 in
employer-paid tuition from their taxable income, so that continued
training remains affordable. In addition, the President’s Worker
Training Tax Credit, part of the FY 1997 budget proposal, offers a 10
percent tax credit to small firms that sponsor employee
training. |
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Expanding access to new markets. The Clinton
Administration has opened 15 U.S. Export Assistance Centers to provide
one-stop access to export information, marketing assistance, and
export-specific financing. |
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Expanding women’s access to capital. Women business owners
often must use credit cards and personal resources to finance or
maintain their businesses. Under President Clinton, the SBA has nearly
quadrupled the number of government-guaranteed loans to women-owned
businesses — with no decrease in loans to other business
owners. |
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Increasing federal procurement contracts for women. In
1994, President Clinton signed the Federal Acquisition Streamlining
Act that challenges all government agencies to purchase at least 5
percent of their goods from women-owned businesses. |
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Expanding the Small Business Administration’s Women’s
Demonstration project. Under President Clinton, the SBA has added 19
new centers nationwide to its Women’s Demonstration
Program. |
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Creating a forum to address women’s economic issues. The
President’s Inter-Agency Committee on Women’s Business Enterprise
comprises senior officials from 10 federal agencies, ensuring that
women’s economic issues are addressed at the highest policy-making
levels. |
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Raising the health-insurance deduction for the
self-employed. President Clinton increased the self-employed health
insurance deduction from 30 percent to 80 percent. |
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Reducing regulations and paperwork. The SBA has cut in
half the total number of pages of its regulations. The President’s
regulatory reform policies allow small business owners to cure
first-time violations without penalty, eliminate paperwork previously
required from small businesses, and allow small firms to apply fines
to correct violations. |
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Streamlining and improving the Small Business
Administration. Under President Clinton, the SBA has cut its staff by
35 percent, while doubling its loan volume. Under one program, the
application for an SBA 7(a) Guaranteed Loan used to be an inch thick,
requiring 5 to 6 weeks for approval; the form is now only one page
long and takes 3 days to
approve. |