Congress expands small-business loans to cover software and AI tools
H.R. 915 — Small Business Technological Act of 2025 · Filed by Mark Alford (R-MO) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 4, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill expands the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program to explicitly allow small businesses to borrow money to buy business software, cloud computing services, and AI-powered business tools—things like payroll systems, accounting software, and inventory management. The bill clarifies that the SBA could already make such loans before this bill passed, and it excludes research-and-development spending and working-capital definitions from the change.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to add software and cloud-computing purchases to the list of permissible uses for SBA 7(a) loans. It is a straightforward expansion of an existing lending program, not a tax measure, appropriation, or regulatory change.
What the text implies
- SBA loan demand may increase, potentially straining program resources or requiring higher appropriations to maintain current approval rates and processing times.
- Software vendors and cloud-service providers gain a new customer segment (small businesses using SBA financing), which may increase their addressable market and sales.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
small business software vendors; cloud computing service providers; AI software companies