SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker (Los Angeles) and Assemblymembers Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) and V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella), who lead the Assembly Jobs and Economic Recovery Task Force, lauded today’s U.S. House passage of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act.

“With California’s unemployment rate at 12.4 percent, this action by Congress will help our small businesses start hiring again,” Speaker Pérez said. “I would like to thank our Congressional delegation, particularly Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for their leadership and making jobs the number one priority of their economic recovery efforts. At the state level, my colleagues and I are working to close the state budget deficit without causing massive layoffs or putting small businesses in jeopardy. Moreover, our Assembly Jobs and Recovery Task Force put together a legislative package that cuts red tape, develops our workforce and helps small businesses, which make up 95 percent of our state’s economy.”

“Thanks to this legislation, small businesses will expand operations, create new jobs and help California prosper again,” Feuer said. “The passage of this legislation will allow us to leverage up to a billion dollars in loans for small businesses in our state.  I applaud Congress for approving this critical measure and look forward to the President signing it into law.”

“The nation’s credit crunch has impeded California's nearly six million small businesses from accessing the capital they need to expand and create jobs,” said V. M. Pérez, who also serves as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy.  “The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act, coupled with the work we are doing at the state level in the areas of gap financing and technical assistance, will go a long way to help our California small businesses better access capital, incentivize private investment, and support innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Over $1 billion from the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act, along with funding included in the Democratic California Jobs Budget proposal, will help California small businesses leverage hundreds of millions of dollars in potential new financing through several programs, including the:

• Small Business Loan Guarantee Program
• California Capital Access Program
• Federal Small Business Administration’s Microlending Program
• Small Business Development Center Program
• Procurement Technical Assistance Technology Program

The Assembly Jobs and Recovery Task Force has worked to ensure this funding can help small businesses put more Californians back to work. It has also worked to help support small businesses in California by developing legislation to:

• Cut Red Tape by Streamlining State Licensing and Permitting
• Expand the State's Economic and Workforce Development Programs
• Integrate Education and Workforce Training Services
• Focus on Ways to Develop the Green Economy

The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act now goes to President Obama, who has indicated he will sign it into law.

Website of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez: www.asmdc.org/speaker