{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://downing.house.gov/media/press-releases/downing-bill-expand-access-capital-rural-small-businesses-clears-key-committee", "Downing Bill to Expand Access to Capital for Rural Small Businesses Clears Key Committee Vote", "2025-05-20", "2025", "2025-05", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Troy Downing", "D000634", "downing.house.gov", "downing", "https://downing.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Congressman Troy Downing\u2019s (MT-02) Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act was reported favorably out of the House Financial Services Committee, taking a critical step toward becoming law.\n\n\u201cRural small businesses are the backbone of many of the communities that I represent, but these important job creators often face outsized difficulty accessing the funding they need to grow.\u201d said Congressman Downing. \u201cH.R. 1190 will ensure that the SEC\u2019s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation pays rural main street the attention it has long deserved but not received. I appreciate the advocacy of Rep. Bynum and the bipartisan support of my colleagues as we work together to get this bill across the finish line.\u201d\n\n\u201cRural small businesses are an essential part of our communities and our economy, but they face too many obstacles when they\u2019re trying to get started,\u201d said Rep. Bynum. \u201cI'm proud that this bill, which makes it easier for these businesses to get on their feet by expanding their access to capital, is one step closer to becoming law. I\u2019ll partner with anyone to get it done for Oregon\u2019s Fifth, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to deliver results for our small businesses.\u201d\n\nWatch Congressman Downing\u2019s remarks in support of the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act at today\u2019s Financial Services Committee markup here.\n\nCosponsors of the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act include: Rep. Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Rep. Zach Nunn (IA-03), Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01), and Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-17).\n\nBackground:\n\nThe SEC\u2019s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation is required to identify problems that small businesses face when securing access to capital and submit an annual report to Congress.\n\nCurrently, the Office\u2019s list of applicable entities are minority-owned, women-owned, and disaster-stricken small businesses.\n\nThis legislation would require the SEC\u2019s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to add rural small businesses to its list of applicable entities.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T00:49:36Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://downing.house.gov/media/press-releases/downing-bill-expand-access-capital-rural-small-businesses-clears-key-committee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.186243025586009, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}