What Obama proposes: A new $30 billion fund to stimulate small-business lending through community banks.
How the program would work: The federal government would make low-interest loans to banks with assets of less than $10 billion, which do more than half of all small-business lending.
Where the money would come from: The $30 billion in loan financing would come from federal bailout money already repaid by the big banks.
What's next: The new fund must be approved by Congress. The Obama administration says it has already had preliminary discussions with lawmakers.
