Northern Mariana Islands gains access to federal small-business microloans
H.R. 3496 — Northern Mariana Islands Small Business Access Act · Filed by Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-MP) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 19, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill expands the Small Business Administration's microloan program to include the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands alongside Guam and other U.S. territories. It adjusts the program's funding allocation formula to accommodate the addition of Northern Mariana Islands as an eligible jurisdiction, allowing small businesses there to access microloans previously unavailable to them.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to extend an existing federal small-business lending program to an additional U.S. territory, with a technical adjustment to the funding formula. This is routine territorial parity legislation.
What the text implies
- The 1/55 to 1/56 adjustment reduces the per-territory allocation slightly for all eligible jurisdictions, though the practical impact depends on total program appropriations and how the SBA implements the formula.
- Eligibility expansion may increase demand for microloan funding across the program, potentially affecting approval timelines or per-loan amounts if appropriations remain flat.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Small business owners in the Northern Mariana Islands gain access to federal microloan funding previously restricted to other territories, expanding economic opportunity and capital access in an underserved jurisdiction. The funding adjustment is technical and does not reduce allocations to existing eligible territories—it redistributes a share of existing program resources.
Who stands to gain
- small businesses in the Northern Mariana Islands
- community development financial institutions (CDFIs) operating in the territory
Named in the bill
Small Business Administration (SBA), Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Small Business Act Section 7(m)
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- May 19, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 19, 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”
- Nov 18, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Nov 18, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 27 - 0”
- Jan 20, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H929)”
- Jan 20, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Williams (TX) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (686 characters) on Jun 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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