EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Give Queens small businesses a hand
New York’s small businesses are
critical to the American economy,
but Main Street businesses
across New York and the rest of
the country face barriers when it
comes to accessing the capital that
will help them grow.
Bank loans to these businesses
have decreased by 38 percent
since 2006, creating a large gap
in financing options. Fortunately,
business development companies
(BDCs) have been able to fill this
gap in funding. In fact, BDCs have
become the primary source of
financial support for Main Street
businesses, providing over $87
billion in capital since 1980.
Congress took strong steps in
the right direction with the Small
Business Credit Availability
Act and the SEC’s most recent
proposed rule amendments but,
more must be done to modernize
BDC rules. In order to make sure
small- and mid-sized businesses
can continue accessing this
capital, BDC regulations must
be updated.
Despite BDC’s importance
to Main Street business growth
over the past few decades, much
of BDC’s regulatory framework
under the SEC is stuck in the past.
This has slowed BDCs’ ability
to make investments and stifled
economic growth.
We urge New York’s elected
officials to continue to support
BDC regulatory modernization
so BDCs can keep performing
their important role for small- and
mid-sized business owners while
remaining well regulated. It’s
time to ensure that policymakers
are working to bring Main Street
business investment into the
21st century.
Joe Glatt, Chairman,
Coalition for Business
Development
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A ‘CHARGE’ TO STOP
Queens has a vested interest in a lawsuit filed
by state Attorney General Letitia James last week
against the Trump Administration’s “public charge”
rule change that aims to deny green cards and visas to
immigrants that use them or have used government
assistance programs.
Such a rule would have short- and long-term
impacts on public health and the economy here in the
borough where nearly half of its 2.3 million residents
are immigrants many of whom would be forced to
choose between food on the table or a roof over their
heads or access to health coverage and a green card.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz warned
that if James’ lawsuit fails to stop the Trump
administration, 68,000 Queens children who come
from mixed-status families where U.S. citizens are
entitled to these benefits and where the family could
face separation from such an impossible choice.
Katz and the New York Immigration Coalition will
hold a town hall meeting on the issue at Borough Hall
on Sept. 17, just under a month before the rule change
is scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 15.
According to James, the public charge rule
weaponizes the public charge inquiry to specifically
target immigrants of color, immigrants with
disabilities, and low-income immigrants.
James added that with the anticipated decline in
Medicaid enrollment, individuals who would have
otherwise had access to healthcare are at risk of living
with undiagnosed and untreated conditions.
Economically, impacted communities can be
expected to experience increased poverty rates,
housing instability, a reduced workforce, and an
overall decrease in total economic productivity.
become permanent residents just like so many
generations have been able to do in the past.”
The Attorney General’s lawsuit must succeed in
stopping the administration’s racist and xenophobic
rule change from being implemented, something the
borough president said would have chilling effects on
communities in Queens.
This is a borough of immigrants — and ironically,
the borough where this anti-immigrant president
was born. Trump may not care about the backstory
of every immigrant he wants out of the country, but
his efforts will have a profoundly negative impact on
Queens in almost every imaginable way — socially,
politically and economically.
We know that there are pockets of Queens that
think Trump’s plan is just fine, and that’s because they
don’t see immigrants as people. That’s their problem.
But if the full weight of Trump’s nativism is brought
to bear on Queens and in the U.S., you can bet that all
of us will suffer the consequences.
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TIMESLEDGER,16 AUG. 30-SEPT. 5, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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