Congressman Paul Tonko today voted to increase much-needed lending to America’s small businesses and offer tax incentives to help them grow and create new jobs. The House today passed Senate amendments to the Small Business Jobs Act, which now moves on to President Obama for his signature.

“Small business owners across the 21st Congressional District continue to tell me that it is very difficult to get the credit they need to fuel their businesses,” said Congressman Paul Tonko. “This legislation will provide badly needed loans to small business so they can continue to invest, grow, and create jobs.”

The Small Business Jobs Act will help America’s 27 million small businesses create new jobs and grow with $12 billion in tax cuts. It will make Main Street businesses more competitive with big corporations by leveraging up to $300 billion in private sector lending for small businesses, along with state grants for small business lending. With tax cuts and access to more capital, our nation’s small businesses will be able to put more Americans back to work. The Small Business Jobs Act takes another step to end job outsourcing by ending tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas. Finally, this bill is fully paid for and will not add a dime to the deficit.

Congressman Tonko added: "Small businesses are the engine which drives job creation in our country – they have been responsible for two-thirds of hiring over the past 15 years. This legislation is critical to allow them to grow and boost our economic recovery.”

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