Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act Passes Senate and Moves in House

(March 15, 1999) The Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act, a bill to provide SBA guaranteed loans to small businesses to correct and recover from Y2K problems, passed the Senate on March 2. It was the subject of a hearing by the House Small Business Committee on March 12. It will likely pass the full House soon.

Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act requires the Small Business Administration to establish a limited-term loan guarantee program under which the SBA would guarantee loans made by private lenders to assist small businesses in  correcting problems related to the Y2K technology problem. The loan program covers both correction of Y2K problems and relief from economic injuries sustained as a result of the borrower's, or others', Y2K problems.

The Senate version of the bill, S 314, passed the Senate on a roll call vote of 99 to 0 on Tuesday morning, March 2, 1999. Its sponsor is Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO). He is also the Chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee.

The House Small Business Committee held a hearing on S 314 on Friday, March 12, 1999. Rep. Jim Talent (R-MO), Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, stated that, "The Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act requires the Small Business Administration to establish a limited-term loan program to assist small businesses in correcting Y2K computer problems. Making capital available to small businesses for Y2K remediation is vital, especially in light of the fact that many of these entities have not yet begun to assess their potential Y2K problems."

"The bill that we are discussing today will be instrumental in preparing our nation’s small businesses for the turn of the century," said Rep. Talent.

Harris Miller, the President of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) testified strongly in favor of the S 314. "Small business is the springboard of the American dream. We cannot afford to sit by, waiting to see if the dream will be crushed by the Millennium date change. This bill will allow small businesses to take all the proactive steps necessary to avoid a Y2K problem - from repairs and remediation to replacement of computer systems," Miller said.

The bill is very likely to be passed by the House. The House Small Business Committee will probably not hold a markup; rather, the bill will likely go straight to the full House, according to Dwayne Andrews, a staff member of the Committee. "It passed the Senate 99 to 0. If anything is bipartisan and broad-based, this is it."

There is also another version of the bill, HR 1056, which was introduced in the House on March 10, 1999 by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).