Shutdown would affect SBA USDA programs

Several programs that community banks rely on would be affected by a federal shutdown if Congress can’t agree on a short-term funding resolution before midnight tonight.

Affected Programs:

• SBA Lending: The Small Business Administration’s 7(a) and 504 loan programs would be interrupted by a shutdown. A partial government shutdown in early 2019 led to a backlog of loans for the SBA to process.

• USDA Lending: The partial shutdown of 2019 closed the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, Rural Housing Service, and crop insurance program, creating similar bottlenecks.

• Prudential Regulators: During the 2019 shutdown, federal banking regulators encouraged financial institutions to work with affected consumers and said prudent efforts would not be subject to examiner criticism.

Other Expiring Programs: Other programs that could expire and likely would be addressed in a continuing resolution:

• The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, which helps ensure community banks have timely access to actionable cyber threat information, is also slated to expire at midnight unless Congress passes an extension.

• The National Flood Insurance Program is set to expire unless lawmakers authorize an extension. ICBA has repeatedly called on Congress to extend the NFIP authorization.

Outlook: While congressional negotiations continue, ICBA continues working to ensure pending government funding packages extend programs that serve community banks and their customers and exclude harmful policies. ICBA will continue to provide members with current developments in the event of a shutdown and will work to ensure members have up-to-date access to information published by the administration.