President-elect Joe Biden has just started rolling out announcements of key positions in his cabinet. While there is still no word on who will lead the Small Business Administration, his campaign material has outlined a number of proposals for disadvantaged small businesses to be implemented through the agency. 

While Contractor News has already looked at Biden’s plan for women-owned businesses, we wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the incoming president’s plans for other kinds of disadvantaged businesses.

The Biden-Harris plan “to revitalize main street” is chalk full of proposals not just for small businesses generally, but also specifically proposals “targeted resources for veteran-, women-, and minority-owned businesses.” Chief among the proposals is a $400 billion procurement effort designed to support small businesses and tackle inequities in the federal contracting system.

That $400 billion is an aggregate of targeted policies. 

Many of the proposals seek to expand existing programs. For example, Biden has vowed to increase federal contracting opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses by expanding the 8(a) program, “strengthen implementation of the Buy Indian Act” to help increase procurement opportunities for Native American small business owners, and the list goes on.

Some highlights:

• Make permanent the New Markets Tax Credit and expand it to $5 billion a year. This is aimed at alleviating some of the hurdles faced by small businesses in disadvantaged communities by encouraging investment.
• Funding state, local, tribal and non-profit investment initiatives with the goal of spurring $50 billion in public-private venture capital.
• $100 billion in low-interest business loans in disadvantaged areas.
• Increase funding for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program and boost the number of Rural Business Investment Companies.
• Strengthen and expand the Community Reinvestment Act.
• “Expand the role of Community Development Financial Institutions by increasing their direct funding and expanding their capacity to offer loans.”

The plan also calls for more “corporate mentorship programs between veteran-owned businesses and existing contractors,” and to “ensure military spouses have the full opportunity to start and grow their own businesses by providing micro-grants, mentorship, and technical assistance through a military spouse entrepreneurship pilot program.”

Perhaps most pertinent to the hurdles being faced by small businesses in this moment is their plan to “overhaul” the Payment Protection Program (PPP). Team Biden wants to guarantee that every “qualifying small business with 50 employees or fewer gets relief.” The proposal specifies that minority-owned businesses be given special attention in this endeavor. Moreover, Biden wants to “issue flexible grants — not loans — for true small businesses that have lost substantial revenue.”

Lastly, Biden has taken issue with a topic we have covered extensively here at Contractor News: massive fraud through the Payment Protection Program. His team writes that they will “address the ramp fraud and unjust enrichment that’s taken place under Trump’s watch” through the program. While we aren’t in the business of pointing fingers, it is undeniable that various private actors have abused the program meant to bail out the foundation of the US economy: our small business ecosystem.