US House Financial Services Committee passes Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010; seen as helping biotech which would get $1 billion

The USA's House of Representatives Financial Services Committee passed legislation including two important Administration proposals - a Small Business Lending Fund that provides incentives for smaller banks to make new loans, and a State Small Business Credit Initiative that would spur over $20 billion in new lending through innovative state-based programs at a time when states are being forced to cut back on them due to budget shortfalls.

Within this, the biotechnology sector is set to be eligible for around $1 billion. Details have yet to be announced, but the funds will come in the form of tax credits, or as a grant for the many unprofitable companies, covering 50% of project development costs in 2009 and 2010 for companies with fewer than 250 workers.

'Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, and where most new jobs begin,' commented US President Barack Obama, expressing pleasure at the passage of the legislation. 'In March, I signed into law a jobs bill that provides tax cuts to small businesses that hire new workers, and have proposed eliminating capital gains taxes on small business investments and new tax breaks for all businesses to invest in new plants and equipment,' he added.