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More money could have been lopped from the state budget this year, but we believe some of the continuing expenditures do fall into the “you have to spend money to make money” category.

The Iowa Legislature made several moves intended to stimulate business activity. Naturally, this approach can pay off in tax receipts if new businesses start and existing ones grow.

Some items worthy of note:

• The state is instituting a small business loan fund. The $5 million Save Our Small (SOS) Business Fund will provide loans at 3.9 percent for Iowa businesses with 35 or fewer employees. The loans can be from $2,500 to $50,000, and the money must not be used for payroll obligations.

The fund is to be administered through the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) and the Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise and Community Vitality under Iowa State University. To qualify, an applicant must have a business plan approved by a Small Business Development Center or a nonprofit agency dealing with business technical assistance.

• Another bill links several state programs that provide technical assistance to small businesses, making their various Web sites available through the IDED site.

• The new Iowa Innovation Council combines three advisory councils for targeted industries and will help develop ways to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship in science-, manufacturing- and technology-driven businesses. The council also is assigned to help with mentoring and management recruitment.

A common cry in our current economic recovery phase is that government is doing nothing to help small business owners.

The Legislature responded. Now small business owners need to take advantage of such programs.

Worried about becoming part of a vast socialist experiment? Seek comfort in the advice of one of the greatest capitalists of all time, John D. Rockefeller: When somebody offers you a dime, take it.