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In February 2008, new legislation passed that will expand business opportunities for veterans and help reservists keep their businesses afloat during and after deployment. The Senate unanimously cleared the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act of 2007 and has sent it to President Bush to be signed into law.

The passage of this legislation came on the heels of another large victory for veterans when the panel approved an amendment to ensure disability payments received by the nation’s 250,000 service-disabled veterans’ are considered “income” for the distinct purpose of making veterans eligible to receive tax rebate checks.

More specifically, the legislation Congress approved will:

• Increase the authorization of appropriations for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Veteran Business Development
• Create an Interagency Taskforce on Veteran Small Business to focus on increasing veterans’ small business success, procurement and franchising opportunities, and access to capital
• Make permanent the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs
• Allow the SBA Administrator to offer loans up to $50,000 without requiring collateral from a loan applicant
• Improve the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program by providing a longer application deadline, creating a pre-application loan approval process, and expanding outreach and technical assistance
• Require a Government Accountability Office report on the needs of service-disabled veterans and a separate report on how to improve relations between employers and reservist employees
• Create a loan participation program in which veterans can receive 7(a) loans while paying 50 percent of the fees
• Require Veteran Business Outreach Centers to increase their participation in the Transition Assistance Program
• Create a grant program to improve Small Business Development Centers’ outreach to the veteran community
• Instruct the Associate Administrator of the Office of Veterans Business Development to create and disseminate information aimed at informing women veterans about the resources available to them