U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) led correspondence to four entities, advocating for small businesses to garner access to credit amid the Main Street pandemic recovery.
Brown, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Durbin joined eight Senate colleagues in sending the letter to the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
“Recent research by the Federal Reserve System found that less than one-third of small businesses that applied for traditional financing in 2021 received all the funding they sought compared to recent years,” the lawmakers. “Banks are choosing to lend to bigger firms, and smaller businesses are suffering the consequences in an already restrictive environment.”
Roughly 14 percent of Black and Asian business owners and 19 percent of Hispanic business owners received the financing they sought last year compared to 34 percent of white small business owners.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened pre-existing inequalities in our economy for businesses owned by entrepreneurs from historically underserved communities,” the lawmakers concluded. “A driving force behind the nation’s economy, businesses owned by people of color, women, and veterans need access to financing opportunities by banks and credit unions. There is a clear and important economic need for small businesses to have access to financing.”