Small business loans for grocery stores located in food deserts. (FE)

What it would have done

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill establishes a loan program for small business grocery stores located in, or proposing to be located in, low-income areas with low access to supermarkets and grocery stores. The loans are available to small business grocery stores located in food desert zones, as designated by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority in accord with the federal Department of Agriculture's Food Desert Research Atlas. The program requires WHEDA to provide loans between $5,000 and $50,000 to eligible applicants and for the loans to be repaid in no more than four years. The interest rate for a loan under the program corresponds to the state and local bond rate reported by the Federal Reserve Board, plus a 1 percent origination fee. Under the bill, WHEDA may not concurrently provide more than one loan to the same small business grocery store.

To qualify for a loan under the program, the owner of the small business grocery store must have two years of business ownership or business management experience. The owner may substitute 16 credit hours of postsecondary course work or a bachelor's degree for one year of business experience. WHEDA must also evaluate the store's ability to repay the loan within the loan period and may base this evaluation on the applicant's credit score, repayment history, educational attainment, and the availability of collateral to secure the loan. An applicant may not be denied a loan solely due to having no or limited credit history or a low credit score due to circumstances beyond the applicant's control.

Who's behind it

Lena Taylor, a Democrat, is its author⁠.