In this Must Know…
- AB 1325 – the MEHKO Bill – is moving to the Senate
- Take Action: Support the final rule on Section 1071
- This week’s Goodie Highlight is the Annual Minority Women Lead competition. Applications close on June 18, 2023.
MEHKO Bill Moves to the Senate
AB 1325, which expands home kitchen operations and allows home cooks to produce more meals per week thus doubling their income, has passed out of the Assembly and now moves on to the State Senate.
The bill will be assigned to a committee soon. AB 1325 is one of the bills that we will be advocating for at our sold-out Advocacy Day on June 7.
In the meantime, watch yesterday’s Advocacy Day Prep Webinar for tips on how to better advocate for small business issues at the state level.
SSBCI Loses $150M in Funding
Over the holiday weekend, the White House and Congress reached an agreement to suspend the debt ceiling until January 2025 and avert a government shutdown. Unfortunately, the deal rescinds over $28 billion in COVID relief program funding, which includes $150 million for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). We are expecting a 30% cut in total technical assistance funding and a 1.5% cut in the $10 billion allocated for the entire SSBCI Program. We will let you know when we know how this will affect California’s pending programs.
Take Action: Support Section 1071
The House of Representatives introduced a resolution to repeal the CFPB’s final rule to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
With lenders now having to report their lending broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, implementation of Section 1071 is an important step toward eliminating discrimination in small business lending. Join us in supporting the final rule – sign on to NCRC’s letter to the House Financial Services Committee.
The Goodies
New Resources
- Prosperity Now created a CDFI Playbook to Support Black and BIPOC Entrepreneurship focused on challenges, opportunities, and points of leverage relating to critical issues that CDFIs need to solve for to be effective providers.
- The Aspen Institute published a guide for policymakers and the social sector on Blockchain, Crypto and Household Financial Security.
For Your Clients
- The CalASIAN Chamber of Commerce and National ACE invite minority women entrepreneurs to participate in a pitch competition at the 6th Annual Minority Women Lead event. Applications close June 18, 2023.
- USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program provides loans and grants to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Applications close June 30, 2023.
Industry News
- The Federal Reserve 2023 CDFI Survey is now open. The deadline to complete it is June 2, 2023.
- Read this article by Ami Kassar, CEO of MultiFunding, on the potential impact that SBA’s new proposed rules for SBA lenders can have on the business financing market.
Other Goodies
- Take Action: Right to Start collaborates with entrepreneurship supporters everywhere to strengthen the ecosystem through citizen engagement. Sign their Statement of Principles.
- Jobs: CAMEO, ESO Ventures, Alliance for Community Development, and Public Bank East Bay announced new jobs recently. See who else is hiring!