The Small Business Administration would no longer be a separate entity and its functions would be incorporated into an agency that combines the functions of six agencies that deal with trade and business matters, according to a proposal President Obama is set to unveil Friday.
Obama is going to request specific authority to make merger proposals and will ask lawmakers for an up-or-down vote on the proposal within 90 days, according to media reports.
The new agency would incorporate the functions of the SBA, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade and Development Agency.
Credit unions that make small business loans deal regularly with the SBA. However, at an October hearing of the House Small Business Committee, Corning FCU President/CEO Gary Grinnell said as currently structured the SBA takes too long to make decisions on loan applications, especially for credit unions that aren’t preferred lenders.
Grinnell, whose Corning, N.Y., credit union has assets of $896 million, also said that credit unions are disadvantaged because the SBA doesn’t compare the default rate of loans made by credit unions with financial institutions that have similar loan portfolios.
Administration officials say the proposal would save $3 billion over 10 years.
