The Small Business Administration is pitching the just-passed infrastructure bill's broadband investment as one of the ways President is delivering help to small businesses.

In a fact sheet put out by SBA and forwarded to journalists by the White House, it talks about how broadband will help small business.

Also: Broadband Leads Off Biden Infrastructure Bill Signing Ceremony

The President has said, and the SBA reiterated, that the $65 billion in the infrastructure bill for broadband deployment and adoption will achieve the universal access that is the Administration's goal, "ensuring that every American has access to affordable, reliably high-speed internet," which in turn, it said, will "foster a more robust micro business ecosystem, which is Washington speak for helping create more small businesses.

As vice president, Biden was the Obama Administration's point person on closing the small business broadband divide--part of Vice President Biden's role in promoting those small businesses--just as he deputized his own VP, Kamala Harris, to be the point person on universal broadband. ■

Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) have teamed up on a bipartisan bill to "prioritize" broadband access for small business. 

Related: NCTA Tells FCC it Should Exclude Business Broadband From Data Act Regime

The Small Business Broadband and Emerging Information Technology Enhancement Act would:

1. "Direct the SBA Office of Investment and Innovation to designate a senior employee to serve as the broadband and emerging information technology (BEIT) coordinator;

2. "Provide SBA employees with BEIT training to help small businesses use such technologies;

3. "Report on the SBA’s work related to broadband and other emerging information technologies;

4. "Require the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy to evaluate the impact of broadband speed and price on small businesses; and

5. "Authorize small business development centers to help businesses access and use BEIT."

“Between a pandemic and historic hurricane, small businesses in Louisiana are facing incredible challenges," said Kennedy. "Helping them access broadband and put new technology to use is a smart way to protect jobs. Small businesses represent 97% of Louisiana employers, I’m glad to help introduce a bill that serves these job creators.

“The economic fallout from COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated existing problems that for too long have hurt small businesses, particularly those in rural areas where access to broadband is limited. This bill will improve SBA programs to help them meet these challenges. This is a common-sense, bipartisan bill that will prioritize broadband access at the federal level. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to join us in this effort,” said Shaheen.

The Democrats' draft HEROES Act legislation, their latest stab at a follow-on COVID-19 aid bill introduced Tuesday (May 12), which includes a big ask from broadcasters and the news media, though the bill's fate is much in doubt.

The bill allows small business loans to go to TV stations that are part of larger groups, which would ordinarily disqualify them, so long as the money only goes to support that local station and is not passed up to the group owner to use for anything else.

According to the National Association of Broadcasters, the bill will:

"[P]rovide television and radio broadcasters, as well as newspapers, the same treatment as hotels and restaurants received under the original CARES Act PPP (Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program]– eligibility based on a physical location basis;

"[R]equire a local station to fit within the SBA size standard for the broadcasting industry, or under $41.5 million in revenue annually;

"[E]nsure that expanded PPP funds would remain at the local level through additional oversight."

“NAB thanks Speaker Pelosi and Chairwoman Velázquez for their inclusion of expanded access to Payroll Protection Program loans for local radio and television stations in today’s draft Coronavirus economic relief legislation..." said NAB President Gordon Smith," who thanked the legislators who had supported the provision. "Hometown broadcasters and community newspapers are providing vital news and information during these unprecedented times to keep families and communities safe, while struggling with record advertising revenue losses," he said.

There were no Republicans on the bill, and one of broadcasters' biggest backers in the House, a former broadcaster himself, signaled the larger legislative vehicle for the broadcast-friendly provision was dead on arrival.

“Don’t be fooled by the name of this massive package. Heroes are not partisans, but this legislation is," said House Energy & Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.). "Written behind closed doors in the Speaker’s Office, House Democrats confess this legislation has no chance of becoming law, yet they wasted time writing an 1,815 page spending manifesto rather than working with us to craft real solutions. We’ve all been inspired by Americans from every walk of life stepping up and working together to get through this terrible time. Congress should do the same."

Democrats control the House, but if Senate Republicans share Walden's view, as is likely, it would likely be DOA there.

The Democrats' draft HEROES Act legislation, their latest stab at a follow-on COVID-19 aid bill introduced Tuesday (May 12), which includes a big ask from broadcasters and the news media, though the bill's fate is much in doubt. 

The bill allows small business loans to go to TV stations that are part of larger groups, which would ordinarily disqualify them, so long as the money only goes to support that local station and is not passed up to the group owner to use for anything else. 

According to the National Association of Broadcasters, the bill will: 

"[P]rovide television and radio broadcasters, as well as newspapers, the same treatment as hotels and restaurants received under the original CARES Act PPP (Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program)– eligibility based on a physical location basis; 

"[R]equire a local station to fit within the SBA size standard for the broadcasting industry, or under $41.5 million in revenue annually; 

"[E]nsure that expanded PPP funds would remain at the local level through additional oversight." 

“NAB thanks Speaker Pelosi and chairwoman Velázquez for their inclusion of expanded access to Payroll Protection Program loans for local radio and television stations in today’s draft Coronavirus economic relief legislation..." said NAB president Gordon Smith," who thanked the legislators who had supported the provision. "Hometown broadcasters and community newspapers are providing vital news and information during these unprecedented times to keep families and communities safe, while struggling with record advertising revenue losses," he said. 

There were no Republicans on the bill, and one of broadcasters' biggest backers in the House, a former broadcaster himself, signaled the larger legislative vehicle for the broadcast-friendly provision was dead on arrival. 

“Don’t be fooled by the name of this massive package. Heroes are not partisans, but this legislation is," said House Energy & Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.). "Written behind closed doors in the Speaker’s Office, House Democrats confess this legislation has no chance of becoming law, yet they wasted time writing an 1,815 page spending manifesto rather than working with us to craft real solutions. We’ve all been inspired by Americans from every walk of life stepping up and working together to get through this terrible time. Congress should do the same." 

Democrats control the House, but if Senate Republicans share Walden's view, as is likely, it would likely be DOA there.

Small Business Administration administrator Linda McMahon is exiting the agency.

McMahon is co-founder and former CEO of TV wrestling empire WWE.

As co-founder of WWE, she helped grow that small business from a 13-person staff to a publicly traded global business with more than 800 employees.

McMahon also ran for the U.S. Senate a couple of times in Connecticut but did not win. (She and her daughter, Stephanie McMahon, have also been MCN Wonder Women.)

“Administrator McMahon has been a fierce advocate for America’s small businesses during her tenure as SBA Administrator,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), chairman of the Small Business Committee. “Under her stewardship, optimism among America’s small business has soared as a result of this administration’s pro-growth, pro-worker policies. I thank her for her exemplary service and wish her luck in her future endeavors. Finding a successor as passionate as Administrator McMahon will be a challenge, but I stand ready to work with the administration to find someone who shares her vision and continues to bring real world business experience to the SBA.”