Government Shutdown or Not?

T-minus 7 days until a government shutdown on March 14th at midnight. President Trump wants to do a Continuing Resolution through September 30th, keeping military and non-defense agencies operating on “flat” funding levels. TBD on what happens because while Senate and House appropriators agreed to topline numbers, Republican leadership appears not to be on the same page. Also, click here for an outline of POTUS’s remarks this week to Congress.

 

News Alert: Administrator Loeffler Announces SBA Reforms

Administrator Kelly Loeffler has announced a series of reforms at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) aimed to ensure taxpayer benefits prioritize American citizens. These actions align with President Trump’s agenda to secure borders and eliminate benefits for illegal aliens.

 

Current rules allow non-U.S. citizens to access SBA loans under certain conditions, such as possessing a valid visa and customs stamp, having a lender's approval, operating the business for two years and having enough collateral to repay the loan in full. For more information, please check out these two articles.

 

Below is a summary of the key reforms announced by Administrator Loeffler.

 

Citizenship Verification for SBA Loan Applications

• Implementing a new policy requiring SBA loan applicants to verify U.S. citizenship or legal status.
• Requiring lenders to confirm that businesses are not owned in whole or in part by illegal aliens.
• Aligning SBA funding eligibility with President Trump’s executive order to prevent taxpayer dollars from subsidizing illegal immigration.

Relocating SBA Regional Offices

• Six regional offices in sanctuary cities—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle—will be moved to more cost-effective, accessible and compliant locations.
• Prioritizing accessibility and fiscal responsibility while ensuring SBA offices are in municipalities that uphold federal immigration laws.

These reforms reflect the Trump Administration’s priority of cracking down on illegal immigrants and the taxpayer benefits they receive. 

 

What Happened on This Week’s Advocacy Call? Let’s Talk Local.

During this week’s call, we discussed how to connect to your local offices and how you can get activated in your community. You can activate in your community by hosting a Town Hall and encouraging NAWBO members and non-members to attend to discuss business concerns. After the event, you can share the collective views with local and national lawmakers.

 

What Did NAWBO Do on Capitol Hill This Week?

• We supported the re-introduced Childcare package from Senators Britt and Kaine.
• We released a statement on the House Small Business Committee markup.

 

New Resource on What We’re Advocating For

• Click here to help explain the 45S tax credit we’ve discussed on Capitol Hill.

 

Advocacy Day Is Selling Out Fast!

Remember Advocacy Day kicks off the National Women’s Business Conference on June 5, 2025. There is limited seating in the room on Capitol Hill, and we’ve already sold more than half of the tickets. Get your tickets now!

 

Where Do I Get Advocacy Information Beyond This Email?

As the new Administration is very busy, we shifted to a bimonthly call schedule in advance of our conference in June. You can get all the details on NAWBO's Advocacy strategy on our monthly calls slated for the first Thursday of the month at 11 a.m. PT/1 p.m. CT/ PT/2 p.m. ET and the third Tuesday of the month at 9 a.m. PT/11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET. Our next two meetings will be on March 18th and April 3rd.