WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Roger Wicker (R-MS) sent a bipartisan letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Guzman encouraging the creation of a centralized, online hub where startup and small business owners can access information from SBA about state and federal permitting and licensing requirements. This portal could help cut through red tape and make it easier to get the permits and licenses needed to comply with federal and state requirements as businesses launch and begin to operate.
“We have heard from many small business owners in our communities that accessing information on the vast array of business permitting and licensing rules is difficult, especially for those launching businesses for the first time,” said the senators. “SBA has made important strides in providing online resources through its Learning Center, but we believe more can be done to help entrepreneurs, particularly those running startups, get the information they need to start, build, and expand their businesses and cut through bureaucratic red tape.”
“To assist with that effort, we would like to explore Congressional authorization for the creation of a centralized SBA portal to serve as a one-stop shop where small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs can find all applicable information on federal, state, and local permitting and licensing for starting and operating a small business,” the senators continued.
The full letter can be found here.
Senator Rosen has been a leader in protecting and promoting small businesses and entrepreneurs, serving as Senate Chair of this year’s bipartisan Congressional Startup Day. Last year, she secured over $2 million through the American Rescue Plan to support Nevada’s small businesses. Senator Rosen has also led colleagues in two letters to Senate appropriators urging them to allow nonprofit child care providers access to the same SBA loan products as for-profit child care providers, and requesting funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business Development Grant program. She is the lead sponsor of the Minority Entrepreneurship Grant Program Act, bipartisan legislation to provide grants to Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to increase opportunities for minority student small business ownership and entrepreneurship.
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