FAITH in Small Business Act

House Bill

H.R. 522

119th Congress

FAITH in Small Business Act

In Committee

Introduced:Jan 16, 2025

Primary Sponsor

Dan Crenshaw

Representative

Republican

TX-2

Cosponsors

4

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Commerce

Summary

This bill codifies SBA rules allowing faith-based organizations to access business loan and disaster assistance programs. It covers 7(a), microloan, 504, EIDL, and MREIDL programs. Current regulations bar organizations principally engaged in religious instruction, but recent Supreme Court decisions found such exclusions unconstitutional when based solely on religious character. The bill aligns SBA policy with constitutional requirements.

Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.

SponsorDan Crenshaw (R-TX)

Introduced1/16/2025

StatusReferred to the House Committee on Small Business.

ChamberHouse

Data from Congress.gov

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Vote Prediction

FAITH in Small Business Act

This bill codifies SBA rules allowing faith-based organizations to access business loan and disaster assistance programs. It covers 7(a), microloan, 504, EIDL, and MREIDL programs. Current regulations bar organizations principally engaged in religious instruct

Community Breakdown

Pass

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Fail

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This bill codifies SBA rules allowing faith-based organizations to access business loan and disaster assistance programs. It covers 7(a), microloan, 504, EIDL, and MREIDL programs. Current regulations bar organizations principally engaged in religious instruction, but recent Supreme Court decisions found such exclusions unconstitutional when based solely on religious character. The bill aligns SBA policy with constitutional requirements.

Bill Number: 522
Sponsor: Dan Crenshaw (R-TX)
Introduced: 1/16/2025
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.
Policy Area: Commerce

Data from Congress.gov

AI-generated summary

Fact Sheet

Title: FAITH in Small Business Act
Bill Number: 522
Sponsor: Dan Crenshaw (R-TX)
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.
Introduced: 1/16/2025
Summary: This bill codifies SBA rules allowing faith-based organizations to access business loan and disaster assistance programs. It covers 7(a), microloan, 504, EIDL, and MREIDL programs. Current regulations bar organizations principally engaged in religious instruction, but recent Supreme Court decisions

Data from Congress.gov

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill codifies SBA rules allowing faith-based organizations to access business loan and disaster assistance programs. It covers 7(a), microloan, 504, EIDL, and MREIDL programs. Current regulations bar organizations principally engaged in religious instruction, but recent Supreme Court decisions found such exclusions unconstitutional when based solely on religious character. The bill aligns SBA policy with constitutional requirements.

Last updated: 1/4/2026

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Fair Assistance and Impartial Treatment of Help In Small Business ActThis bill implements a proposed rule by the Small Business Administration (SBA) that allows certain faith-based organizations to access business loan and disaster assistance programs. The programs include the Intermediary Lending Program (ILP), Business Loan programs (7(a), microloan, and 504 programs), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL) program, and Immediate Disaster Assistance Program (IDAP). Current SBA regulations generally prohibit access to these programs if an organization is principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs.Recent Supreme Court opinions have found it unconstitutional to deny an otherwise qualified recipient access to a public benefit based solely on the organization's religious character (e.g., Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 582 U.S. 449 (2017)).

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Allows faith-based organizations access to SBA loan programs
Covers 7(a), microloan, 504, EIDL, and MREIDL programs
Implements proposed SBA rule changes
Reflects Supreme Court religious organization precedents
Removes religious character as disqualifying factor

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

Following Trinity Lutheran and similar Supreme Court decisions, excluding otherwise qualified organizations from government programs based on their religious nature is unconstitutional. This bill ensures faith-based small businesses and disaster victims can access the same SBA assistance available to secular organizations. It codifies administrative changes aligned with current constitutional law.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Commerce

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

522, 119th Congress (2025). "FAITH in Small Business Act". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-hr-522

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