Bill limits small business lenders to 16 companies

What it does

This bill caps the number of for-profit small business lending companies at 16. These companies make loans through the Small Business Administration's Section 7 program. Right now there is no limit on how many companies can do this. The bill stops new for-profit lenders from joining the program.

Who it affects

Small businesses that want to borrow money face fewer lending companies to choose from. They may pay higher interest rates or get stricter loan terms. They may also wait longer to get loans.

One thing to notice

The bill does not say how the 16 slots will be given out. It does not say whether companies already in the program get to stay. Nonprofit lending companies are not limited by this cap.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

• Apr 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 24, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Small Business and Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Small Business”
• Apr 30, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Apr 30, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 11”
• Jun 5, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 214 - 198 (Roll no. 155).”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 5 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $5,820,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 7 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 61% of bills with any report.

Robert Bresnahan, who sponsored the bill, received $1,492,294 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Bankers Association — $5,210,000 in 2 reports
• National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders Inc — $580,000 in 2 reports
• Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC — $30,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• for-profit small business lending companies — Private companies that lend money to small businesses and keep profits for owners.
• Section 7 program — A Small Business Administration program that lets private lenders make loans backed by the government.
• Small Business Administration — A federal agency that helps small businesses get loans and other support.
• nonprofit — An organization that uses money to help people or a cause, not to make profits for owners.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.