{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://downing.house.gov/media/press-releases/downing-introduces-bill-expand-access-capital-rural-small-businesses", "Downing Introduces Bill to Expand Access to Capital for Rural Small Businesses", "2025-02-11", "2025", "2025-02", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Troy Downing", "D000634", "downing.house.gov", "downing", "https://downing.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Congressman Troy Downing (MT-02) introduced the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act. This legislation would require the Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s (SEC) Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to report on capital access issues faced by rural small businesses.\n\n\u201cSmall businesses are the backbone of our economy and the focal point of many of the rural communities that I represent,\u201d said Congressman Downing. \u201cThis bill directs critical research and resources to a category of businesses that have been overlooked for far too long. I look forward to getting this overdue legislation across the finish line.\u201d\n\n\u201cOregon wouldn\u2019t be Oregon without its rural small businesses. They create jobs, but they also create stronger communities,\u201d said Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (OR-05), the bill\u2019s co-lead. \u201cI know that small businesses face too many obstacles, especially those brave enough to open where they\u2019re needed most. That\u2019s why I\u2019m working across the aisle to make it easier for rural small businesses to start up and stay open.\u201d\n\nOriginal cosponsors of the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act include: Rep. Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Rep. Zach Nunn (IA-03), and Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01).\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", "2026-04-06T23:42:11Z"]], "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-introduces-bill-expand-access-capital-rural-small-businesses"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7156010251492262, "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"}