It's no secret that Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loans have dropped substantially as the financial crisis has continued to worsen. The good news is that Uncle Sam is actually trying to do something about it. The question is whether it's enough. In an announcement today the SBA said that they are making two changes to their program that should help SBA-guaranteed loans become available to more entrepreneurs looking to get their business plans funded. While unfortunately they're not actually handing out a ton of new capital, here's what they say they will do:

1) SBA loans can now be made with an alternative base rate, the one month LIBOR rate (London Interbank Offered Rate), as well as the prime rate, which was previously allowed. In their words, here's why this helps: "In the past 60 days, both the prime and LIBOR rates have not yet returned to their historical relationship--of roughly 300 basis points between the two rates. The mismatch between the rates is squeezing SBA lenders out of the lending market, since their costs are based on the LIBOR rate." This should theoretically free up more SBA lenders to offer capital to entrepreneurs.

2) THE SBA will now allow a new structure where SBA loans can be assembled into pools for sale in the secondary market. This added flexibility should hopefully impact the profitability and liquidity in the secondary market for SBA-guaranteed loans.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, these changes are fairly technical, however they both seek to achieve the same goal:

"This interim final rule is an important step to reenergize the lenders to make SBA-backed loans and will help open the gateway of capital for entrepreneurs, said acting SBA administrator Sandy Baruah in a statement today.

Here's hoping they help.