Shaheen-Led Bills to Support Small Businesses Sent to President’s Desk
**The bills led by Shaheen will protect small businesses from cybersecurity threats and expand access to disaster assistance.**
(Washington, DC) – After passing the Senate this week, two bills led by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, to support and protect small businesses are headed to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
The Small Business Cyber Training Act, led by Senators Shaheen and Marco Rubio (R-FL), would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a training program for Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to prepare counselors in cyber planning assistance. Specifically, the bill would require SBDCs to have employees certified in cyber strategy counseling for small businesses.
“Our small business owners are the backbone of Granite State communities, but they remain vulnerable to cyberattacks. It’s critical that we help protect small businesses so they can continue to grow and create jobs,” said Shaheen. “This week, the Senate passed my Small Business Cyber Training Act to provide entrepreneurs with essential cyber security training so they can better identify threats to their operations and know how to respond. This bipartisan bill will go a long way towards building digital resilience in our economy and protecting businesses, staff and customers from cyber criminals.”
The text of the bill can be read here.
In addition, the Senate passed the Disaster Assistance for Rural Small Businesses Act, led by Shaheen and Jim Risch (R-ID). The bipartisan legislation would allow rural communities to more easily access emergency relief in the wake of a natural disaster.
Under current law, bureaucratic roadblocks prevent small businesses and homeowners in rural communities from accessing SBA assistance following a natural disaster. This legislation creates a waiver at no cost to taxpayers, allowing rural communities to more readily access and secure SBA disaster assistance in the case of a presidentially-declared disaster.
“After a disaster strikes, rural small businesses often face many barriers and red tape as they rebuild,” said Shaheen. “Entrepreneurs across New Hampshire deserve timely access to the relief they need to recover. I’m thrilled the Senate passed my bipartisan, commonsense bill to address these bureaucratic hurdles so rural business owners can access emergency resources. I urge President Biden to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.”
The text of the bill can be read here.
As a senior member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and as a former small business owner, Senator Shaheen is a fierce advocate for New Hampshire’s small business community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaheen went to bat for small business owners who were among the most severely impacted by the public health crisis. She worked to provide small businesses with the resources they needed to weather and recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19, leading negotiations on provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and expanded the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, both of which were lifelines for businesses throughout New Hampshire and the country. Recently, President Biden signed into law a Shaheen-led bill to require the SBA to create a centralized website that houses compliance guides pertaining to federal regulations impacting small businesses.
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