House of Representatives Passes Two Amendments Sponsored by Congressman Al Green to the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010

(Washington, DC)--This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two amendments sponsored by Congressman Al Green (TX-09) to H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010. These amendments would improve disclosures by institutions receiving Small Business Lending Fund assistance and require the inclusion of multi-lingual outreach materials and considerations by participating institutions.

While speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Al Green explained that the first amendment seeks to provide disclosure and enhance accountability: “On applicable loan documents, an institution engaged in the lending process with funds from the program will indicate that the funds being loaned are coming from the program’s fund. This is important because the public desires to know where the money is going and how it is being utilized.”

Furthermore, according to the language of the amendment, if the lending institution has a website, it will be required to publish the written reports of the Treasury Secretary detailing the participation of institutions.

“To the extent that loans are made, these reports would indicate how the money was utilized and this again would provide additional transparency which will lead to accountability,” Congressman Al Green said.

The amendment also requires lending institutions to make known to borrowers that they will have the opportunity to participate in the program by way of receiving loans; and that these loans must be based upon the law, not allowing any type of discrimination on the basis of any factor prohibited under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, including the race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age of the borrowers.

The second amendment, which Congressman Al Green cosponsored with Reps. Mike Honda (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA) and Andre Carson (D-IN), requires the inclusion of linguistically and culturally diverse outreach materials where it is determined as appropriate based on the applicant’s small business lending plan. It also establishes that the program must explicitly state that minority-owned financial institutions are eligible for consideration by the Secretary of the Treasury.

“Measures like these will be particularly useful in Congressional Districts like mine, where the constituency is very diverse. The principal objective of these amendments is to do all we can to assist small businesses and to perfect a bill that will improve the quality of life for American entrepreneurs,” Congressman Al Green said.

By a vote of 241-182, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending fund Act of 2010, which included Congressman Al Green’s amendments.