Obama sends Congress legislation to bolster lending to small businesses

Obama sends Congress small business lending bill

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has sent Congress a proposal to shift $30 billion from the financial bailout fund to a new initiative to unfreeze credit for the nation’s small businesses.

The $30 billion fund would provide support to small and medium-sized banks with assets under $10 billion to encourage them to increase lending to small businesses. Obama first outlined the effort in his State of the Union address in January.

In remarks to reporters at the White House, Obama says that the program had been expanded to include a new state small business credit that would support efforts by state governments to provide loans to small businesses.