The Small Business Administration expects to give out a record number of loans this year, thanks to an injection of $79 million from March legislation that boosted its lending program after the SBA had run out of money.

Last year, SBA Administrator Hector Barreto said, the SBA gave out 75,000 loans through its most popular program, the 7(a), which guarantees loans to small firms that have had difficulty accessing funds, as well as 504 loans for equipment and expansion.

This year, he said, it expects to guarantee 20 percent more.

"That means small businesses are more optimistic. They don't borrow money if there aren't good prospects," said Barreto, who was in South Florida to meet with chambers of commerce and SBA staffers during a weeklong, whirlwind tour that is to also include Kansas City, Milwaukee, Washington, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Barreto, at the helm since July 2001, is touting a newer, more efficient SBA. He is also pushing for the legislative enactment of two healthinsurance plans that would include tax cuts for small businesses, reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits against them and help small-business owners with international trade plans.

The SBA had reduced the caps on 7(a) loans from $2 million to $750,000, but, in late March, Congress approved a budget that restored the original cap.

The funding also allowed the SBA to raise the maximum loan guarantee from $562,500 to $1.5 million. Barreto had pushed for a zero-subsidy, self-sufficient budget, with lenders and businesses paying higher fees to participate.

THE HOUSE SAYS NO

Thursday night, the House of Representatives rejected legislation that would have extended loan programs under the SBA through mid-September. While not affecting the loan guarantees, that places the SBA in limbo.

Programs focusing on such things as the sustainability of women's business centers and the authority to certify small and disadvantaged businesses have been suspended, said Raul Cisneros, SBA assistant administrator.

The SBA has secured $12.7 billion in 7(a) loan guarantees and $9.5 billion in 504 loans for 2004 and $3 billion for 2005. The tightening of its budget equals cuts in such areas as the microloan program, for amounts below $35,000 -- something the National Association of Women Business Owners has said it would like to see the SBA get more involved in.

"They've tried to do a lot of outreach, but, at the same time, we need to make sure the loan program remains consistent," said Erin Fuller, executive director of the NAWBO.

For women, she said, access to capital remains one of the biggest hurdles.

"I'd like to see more loan opportunities for $25,000 and under," Fuller said, "because the SBA really focuses on loans higher than that."

The SBA also hopes to help the 41 million Americans who do not have health insurance. It is promoting two initiatives: healthcare savings accounts and and association health plans.

EYE ON INSURANCE

Healthcare savings accounts, already available nationwide through Medicare, establish tax-free savings accounts for individuals and groups that buy low-premium, high-deductible health plans. Association health plans will allow small businesses to provide better and lower cost insurance for their workers.

The SBA's support for the two initiatives has drawn a mixed reaction from Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Small Business.

"Health savings would separate the healthy and sick pools and lead to increased health premiums for traditional health-insurance policies," Velázquez said. "We are in favor of Association Health Premiums. We think it's wonderful that Barreto is talking about it, but it's ironic that [President] Bush is holding off that legislation."

Were she in Barreto's shoes, Velázquez said, she'd bring about sweeping changes. She'd like to see the SBA, for example, find ways to make it easier for women business owners to access government contracts and find ways to expand small-business development networks and to update the 8A program for minority small-business owners.

Barreto points out that there have been 38 percent more loans this year than last to minority businesses, which now comprise 30 percent of all SBA loan recipients. The SBA has given out $70 million in loans to Hispanic-owned businesses in Miami alone, he notes.