Badge-to-Business Act

Summary#

This bill changes a part of the Small Business Act about express loans. It says the Small Business Administration (SBA) generally may not collect a guarantee fee for express loans made to "qualified career law enforcement officers" on or after January 1, 2027. The SBA can keep collecting the fee for a fiscal year if the cost to the Administration of making those loans is greater than zero and that cost is directly tied to guaranteeing the loans. The bill defines a qualified career law enforcement officer as someone who has at least 10 years of service under the cited federal definition and who is not, at application or at separation, the subject of a pending criminal investigation or administrative proceeding for misconduct related to official duties.

What it means for you#

• If you are a career law enforcement officer with at least 10 years of service and you are not facing a pending investigation or disciplinary proceeding, you could be eligible to get an SBA express loan without the SBA collecting the usual guarantee fee starting January 1, 2027.
• The change applies only to express loans made under the specific subsection of the Small Business Act referenced in the bill.
• The SBA can choose to keep collecting the fee in a fiscal year if it finds that guaranteeing those loans would have a net cost for that year.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on projected federal costs, savings, or how many loans would be affected. The text removes the collection of the guarantee fee for eligible loans but allows the SBA to continue collecting the fee in any fiscal year when the SBA determines the program would have a direct positive cost.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.