Highlights from the President's FY17 Small Business Administration Budget Request

Enacted FY16 funding levels are used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
Small Business Administration (SBA) funding in the president’s FY17 budget request totals $719 million (1 percent increase), excluding Stafford Act Disaster Funding. Within that total, $230.6 million (level funding) is provided for counseling and technical assistance for entrepreneurs. Another $152.7 million (level funding) is provided for SBA’s loan programs. In FY16, the agency’s 504 loan guarantee program became zero subsidy, eliminating a larger portion of the appropriation for SBA’s business loan programs, but not impacting programmatic activities in FY17.

SBA would administer $46 billion through its now-zero subsidy loan programs. Credit programs include:

• Section 7(a) Guaranty -  $27 billion in lending authority (1.9 percent increase)
• Section 504 CDC Guaranty - $7.5 billion in lending authority (no change)
• Section 504 Loan Refinancing - $7.5 billion in lending authority (no change)
• SBIC – Debentures - $4 billion (no change)

SBA also provides direct business loans through the Microloan Direct Program, which would receive a $4.3 million subsidy (30.3 percent increase) to support $44 million in loans (25.7 percent increase).

SBA administers a range of entrepreneurship development programs, offering mentoring, advising, outreach to underserved communities and support for nonprofit lending. Funding for SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs includes:

• Small Business Development Centers - $115 million (1.7 percent decrease)
• Microloan Technical Assistance - $31 million (24 percent increase)
• Women’s Business Centers - $ 16.7 million (1.8 percent decrease)
• State Trade & Export Promotion - $15 million (16.7 percent decrease)
• Veterans Outreach - $12.3 million (no change)
• SCORE - $10.3 million (1.9 percent decrease)
• Entrepreneurship Education - $10 million (no change)
• Regional Innovation Clusters - $6 million (no change)
• Growth Accelerators - $5 million (400 percent increase)
• HUBZone Program - $3 million (no change)
• 7(j) Technical Assistance Program - $2.8 million (no change)
• Native American Outreach - $2 million (no change)
• National Women’s Business Council - $1.5 million (no change)

No funding is provided for PRIME Technical Assistance.

The $4 million increase for SBA’s Growth Accelerators program would support additional outreach efforts. Funding for the Regional Innovation Clusters program would cover program evaluations for the initiative’s efforts to bring small businesses and entrepreneurs together with venture capitalists, university and regional industry leaders.

The budget request includes a legislative proposal for the Scale-Up Manufacturing Investment Company (SUMIC) with $1.3 billion in mandatory subsidy budget authority. The initiative would invest $5 billion in federal funds over five years, along with a matching amount of private funds, to bridge the financing gap for small, advanced manufacturing startups. No subsidy outlays are assumed in FY17, but, if authorized, they would begin in FY18.

SBA coordinates Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs throughout the federal government. Under the proposed budget, SBA’s costs for this effort (including administrative direct, indirect and overhead costs) would total $10.5 million (2 percent increase) in FY17. SBA will seek reauthorization for SBIR/STTR in FY17.