Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Bill would let state fund managers collect modest fees to free up $57 million in small-business lending
Loading...
Summary
House Bill 798 would allow managers of the small-minority-and-women-owned business account (VLT proceeds) to collect a capped management fee to incentivize deployment of underused program funds; supporters said roughly $57 million sits undisbursed and fees would underwrite outreach, underwriting and staff to boost loans. Commerce supports the change.
Delegate Doggett Sarah Wallach told the Economic Matters Committee HB 798 will enable fund managers who administer the small minority and women-owned business account at the Department of Commerce to retain a modest, department‑capped management fee (a percent of each loan) to cover administration, marketing and technical assistance.
Wallach said the program has facilitated more than 1,400 transactions through fiscal 2025 and supported jobs and private investment, but that roughly $57 million (about $40 million at Commerce and $17 million in fund-manager accounts) remains undeployed. "The incentive here with this management fee is to get those monies out the door to our small businesses," she said.
Steven Primash of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation and Andy Fish of the Maryland Department of Commerce testified the fee would allow fund managers to hire staff, market the program, and scale lending without additional general‑fund support. Evan Richards of the Maryland Bankers Association and multiple CDFIs and small‑business founders described the program’s tangible benefits: loans that conventional banks decline, job creation, and the need for administrative capacity to move capital.
Testimony established the fee would be paid from the program (SMOWBA) rather than the general fund; a committee member noted the fiscal note’s language that management fees reduce amounts available for loans and grants, and the sponsor responded that the fee is intended as a cost of doing business to unlock much larger sums currently idle.
No vote was taken; proponents said they are working with Commerce and stakeholders on implementation specifics and caps.
