The Investing in the American Dream Act clarifies and expands eligibility rules for federal small business loans administered by the Small Business Administration. Under current law, small business loans are generally limited to businesses owned by U.S. citizens or nationals, but this bill adds a new category of "eligible individuals" who can own these businesses, including refugees, asylees, lawful permanent residents, certain nonimmigrants with valid status, and individuals granted deferred action under the 2012 DACA program. The bill requires that small businesses receiving covered loans be located in the United States and be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by either U.S. citizens or these eligible individuals, provided the eligible individuals are lawfully present and authorized to work in the country. The bill also explicitly prohibits the Small Business Administration from denying loans based solely on eligible individual ownership and prevents the agency from increasing the ownership threshold requirement beyond 51 percent. This legislation affects small business entrepreneurs from immigrant backgrounds who want to access federal lending programs and microloan assistance.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.