SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday issued the following statement in response to the New Mexico Senate unanimously approving Senate Bill 10, which would double the funding for the Small Business Investment Corporation, a targeted approach at boosting investment in New Mexico small businesses.

“We are thinking ahead,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “I applaud senators for seeing the need for a proactive approach. Our diverse local small businesses can and should be the catalysts of organic economic growth, and the state can and should be providing them with a strong foundation. These businesses are community anchors, providers of quality jobs and careers, amplifiers of the sense of community we want to cultivate in every city, town and village in New Mexico. Let’s keep going.”

Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Carlos Cisneros, would increase the funding for the SBIC from 1 percent of the Severance Tax Permanent Fund to 2 percent. This amendment would deliver roughly $50 million in additional money to the SBIC, which since 2000 has supported small businesses across New Mexico through loans to finance business expansion and job creation. SBIC makes money for the Severance Tax Permanent Fund through interest on the loans that its partners originate.

With this additional funding, the SBIC would establish new lending partner relationships and expand existing lending partner relationships with community development financial institutions that provide loans to new and growing small businesses not served by traditional banks, particularly in underserved communities.