Sen. Young Calls for Passage of Bill Supporting Small Businesses

According to Indiana Sen. Todd Young, over 1.2 million Hoosiers are employed by small businesses.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indiana Republican Senator Todd Young is looking for ways to support small businesses and deny fraudsters from taking advantage of the system.

The senator spoke on the Senate floor this week in support of his Assisting Small Businesses, Not Fraudsters Act, legislation that would bar individuals convicted of defrauding certain COVID-era Small Business Administration loan and grant programs from receiving future SBA financial assistance.

Young’s legislation is included in the Protecting American Taxpayers Act from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

“Senator Ernst has been relentlessly focused and a tireless advocate for combatting fraud and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly,” Sen. Young said on the Senate floor this week.

According to Sen. Young, over 1.2 million Hoosiers are employed by small businesses. He called them “the backbone of our modern economy.”

“In fact, the way to grow an economy is to figure out how to get more people to start businesses and to grow those small businesses into larger businesses,” said Sen. Young. “Our federal small business programs exist for that purpose: to help hardworking entrepreneurs grow their businesses, to create more jobs.”

Sen. Young said these programs do not exist to reward those who have defrauded taxpayers. During the COVID pandemic, Young stated that some individuals exploited emergency Small Business Administration relief programs for personal gain.

“Their actions diverted resources away from legitimate small businesses in Indiana and across the country, and they undermined confidence in these important programs,” he said.

The principle behind Sen. Young’s bill is, in his words, simple. If someone is convicted of defrauding the Small Business Administration through certain COVID-era loan or grant programs, then that individual would not be eligible to receive future financial assistance from the Small Business Administration.

“Honest, hard-working entrepreneurs and small business owners shouldn’t have to compete with convicted fraudsters for federal opportunities,” Sen. Young added. “Every taxpayer dollar lost to fraud is a dollar that cannot help legitimate small businesses expand, hire workers, or invest in their future.”