SBA Wouldn’t Be Only Tax-Cut Victim

Vicki Torres’ “SBA Chief Falls Short as Agency Faces New Round of Cutbacks” [At Issue, Aug. 11] missed the larger point about the effect that “partisanship” has in this year’s congressional budget debate. There is a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans on budget priorities. If the huge GOP tax cut and budget plan is enacted, domestic priorities like education, health care and small business will suffer greatly.

The Small Business Administration, like many other agencies, is caught in the middle of this dispute. Unfortunately, the article reported partisan criticism of SBA as fact, without balancing responses from SBA. Today’s SBA is lean and effective, and we have millions of small-business success stories to prove it!

The column says that Republicans criticize Administrator Aida Alvarez for supporting the administration’s goals for economic development. This is absurd. She is a member of the president’s Cabinet. She has worked hard to open doors of economic opportunity for all Americans, because she truly believes in SBA’s mission and knows that small business is the engine of our economy. The Times acknowledged as much a few months ago in a column on how SBA is changing to meet new market needs.

SBA has made enormous strides in helping small businesses succeed during the Clinton-Gore administration. We’ve doubled lending to women and tripled lending to minorities, setting new records for overall small-business financing.

SBA’s $820-million budget represents only 0.4% of the entire federal budget. Yet we leverage nearly $16 billion in financial support as well as business training and counseling for millions of entrepreneurs. We’re helping more small businesses than ever, with 24% fewer staff members than in 1990.

Now SBA faces drastic cuts that could harm small business and force SBA to lay off 75% of its work force. What’s happening to SBA is just a taste of what’s to come if domestic priorities fall victim to a recklessly huge tax cut. It doesn’t make sense for small business, and it doesn’t make sense for the country.

DEBRA SILIMEO

Associate Administrator

Small Business Administration

Washington