Small Business Aid Bill Passes Senate

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President Obama calls the bill a "critically important" step in the economic recovery.

The Senate approved legislation on Thursday to cut taxes and create a $30 billion lending fund for small businesses.

The bill, which passed 61-38, now moves to the House, where it is expected to pass, and then on to President Barack Obama for his approval.

The aid package of tax breaks and other incentives includes a $30-billion loan fund, which would be administered by the Treasury Department and go to banks with less than $10 billion in assets. Another $12 billion in tax breaks would let businesses write off more of the cost of buying new equipment and making improvements – the expensing limits would be increased to $500,000, as Inc.com wrote yesterday.

The bill would also raise limits and cut fees on loans offered through the Small Business Administration, Bloomberg News reported.

The legislation was able to pass the Senate thanks to the support of two retiring Republican Senators, George Voinovich of Ohio and George LeMieux of Florida.

 'Reinvigorating our economy in the short run and rebuilding it over the long term is not a one-step process,' Obama said today. 'But this is a critically important one and I am grateful to those senators on the Republican side of the aisle willing to take this vote on behalf of America's small-business owners.'

Matt Quinn contributes to the Wall Street Journal's corporate finance blog. He has also written extensively about banking and corporate finance for publications including Inc., American Banker, and Financial Week. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.