H.R. 5892: Keep Main Street Open Act

HR5892, the Keep Main Street Open Act, would require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to run a special loan program for eligible applicants during a government shutdown. The trigger is specific: a shutdown begins on the first day of a partial or full lapse in appropriations and lasts until 30 days after appropriations are enacted. That means help would not just cover the days Congress is deadlocked, but also the month after funding is restored.

The bill is built around loss replacement. Each loan would equal the losses the eligible applicant estimates were caused by the shutdown. The terms are unusually favorable compared with many business loans: the interest rate could not exceed 1%, and the loan could run as long as one year from the date the shutdown is terminated. That makes this a short-term, low-cost bridge meant to help firms survive a federal funding disruption rather than finance long-term expansion.

Who can get the loans is defined by reference to existing law. An "eligible applicant" is anyone who meets the definition of an "eligible recipient" in section 7(a)(36) of the Small Business Act, and a "covered loan" means a loan made under section 7(a) of that same law. In practice, that means the bill leans on the SBA's existing lending framework instead of building an entirely new eligibility system from scratch.

What the bill does not do is also important. It does not list a total dollar authorization, does not set a cap on the overall program cost, and does not spell out new penalties, fees, forgiveness rules, or underwriting standards in the text provided here. The core policy choice is simple: if Washington shuts down, the SBA must provide loans sized to estimated losses, at no more than 1% interest, with repayment due no later than one year after the shutdown officially ends.