The Small Business Administration would no longer be a separateentity and its functions would be incorporated into an agency thatcombines the functions of six agencies that deal with trade andbusiness matters, according to a proposal President Obama is set tounveil Friday.

Obama is going to request specific authority to make mergerproposals and will ask lawmakers for an up-or-down vote on theproposal within 90 days, according to media reports.

The new agency would incorporate the functions of the SBA, theOffice of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank,the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade andDevelopment Agency.

Credit unions that make small business loans deal regularly withthe SBA. However, at an October hearing of the House Small Business Committee, CorningFCU President/CEO Gary Grinnell said as currently structured theSBA takes too long to make decisions on loan applications,especially for credit unions that aren't preferredlenders.

Grinnell, whose Corning, N.Y., credit union has assets of $896million, also said that credit unions are disadvantaged because theSBA doesn't compare the default rate of loans made by credit unionswith financial institutions that have similar loan portfolios.

Administration officials say the proposal would save $3 billionover 10 years.