Pete Sessions votes yes to small business loans

In July, Pete Sessions was one of the few who voted against small businesses, joining only 40 other house members in opposing H.R. 2965 (see Pete Sessions votes against small business research and innovation).

But last Thursday, Pete Sessions joined the overwhelmingly bipartisan majority in voting for H.R. 3854, the Small Business Financing and Investment Act of 2009, which will improve lending and access to credit for small businesses.

Only 32 voted against (see Roll no. 830). Among the no-voters were 8 Texas Republicans, including Michael Burgess, Jeb Hensarling, Kay Granger, and Ron Paul.

So those of you who hounded Pete Sessions to vote for this bill owe him a thank you note for once!

Pete Sessions votes against small business research and innovation

In an overwhelming vote of bipartisanship, the House passed H.R. 2965, the Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act. Pete Sessions was one of only 41 members of Congress to vote against this bill (See Roll No. 486). For those who would like more information about this bill, Tom Price (R-GA) offers an analysis at his website Republican Study Group (Tom Price voted in favor of the bill):

H.R. 2965 would reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) for two years, through September 30, 2011. The SBIR program provides grants meant to aid certain small businesses grow in scope trough three phases of project development, implementation, and commercialization. The STTR program requires certain federal agencies to set-aside a percentage of their extramural research and development budget for the purpose of developing projects produced by small businesses. In addition, the bill would expand the amount of agency set-asides for SBIR and STTR programs and increase the maximum amount of individual awards for small businesses...