By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said a new series of legislative bills could help provide critical funding and support for small businesses.

New York's junior senator is championing the multi-pronged bill that would offer incentives for new investment while improving small-business loan processing.

Gillibrand introduced her proposal July 6 on Grant Street in one of the poorest sections of the nation's third-poorest city. The senator first toured the Massachusetts Avenue Project, which teaches inner-city youth basic business skills as they grow and package their own foods, including salsa and salad dressing.

"Small business is the answer to the economic downturn," Gillibrand said. "Now more than ever we need to foster growth and give small business the tools they need."

Her legislative proposal includes the following:

• Offering more tax deductions for startup expenses and eliminating capital-gains taxes on investments in small businesses.

• Infusing more than $30 billion to community banks to assist with small-business loans.

"Every economist will tell you that the worst thing you can do in a grave recession is to stop lending money," Gillibrand said.

• Providing more federal support for small-business loans that could see $300 million funneled to New York state.

• Extending fee waivers for Small Business Administration loans while expanding loan limits and allowing the SBA to continue to guarantee up to 90 percent of new loans.

The proposal is considered key to aiding small businesses, noted Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.

"Some 86 percent of all new jobs created were created by small businesses," he said.

According to Gillibrand, 99 percent of New York companies would qualify as small businesses, including 452,000 that are minority-owned and 505,000 that are women-owned.

"We need to invest where it makes the most sense," she said. "That's job creation. These kind of investments create new jobs."