JOINED BY SEN. KLOBUCHAR, FRANKEN PROPOSES NEW LIFELINE FOR MINNESOTA SMALL BUSINESSES

Franken And Klobuchar Meet With Rochester Small Business Owners For Economic Roundtable

Franken Offers Economic Recovery Plan, Including New Proposal To Unfreeze Credit For Small Businesses

SAINT PAUL [10/28/08] - Joined by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken hosted an economic roundtable in Rochester today with a group of small business owners. Franken offered a new proposal to unfreeze credit for Minnesota small businesses, part of an economic recovery plan designed to create jobs and help Minnesota families in these tough economic times.

Al Franken:

“George Bush and Norm Coleman just don’t get it: giveaways to the special interests and tax cuts for millionaire CEOs don’t create jobs. Small businesses create jobs. And we’re going to lose jobs here in Minnesota if we don’t do something to unfreeze credit for our small businesses. Creating new jobs and protecting the ones we have is the best way to make our economy work for the middle class again.”

Amy Klobuchar:

“This election is about a new direction for our economy and our country. Al Franken and I will work together to bring the change Minnesota’s small businesses and middle class need and deserve.”

Franken’s proposal generates $4 billion for direct loans to small businesses through the Small Business Administration (SBA) and adds another $1 billion to the SBA’s loan guarantee programs, as well as simplifying the process of obtaining these loans, eliminating associated fees, and expanding the network of lenders to increase liquidity and secure better loan rates for small businesses.

The initial $5 billion investment will be repaid by small businesses, resulting in no net cost to taxpayers over time. But Franken called for the $5 billion upfront cost to be paid for in the short term by taking it out of the $700 billion earmarked for the bailout package, or by eliminating unwarranted and excess stock option deductions on executive compensation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 17:49 and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.