Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing legislation that would allow credit unions to lend more money to small businesses.

The Small Business Lending Enhancement Act would raise the current restriction on credit unions that limits the amount of their total assets that can be used for business lending.

Under the legislation, credit unions would be able to use as much as 27.5 percent of their funds for small business lending.

Gillibrand said this would increase lending by $10 billion and create more than 11,000 jobs in New York.

"With credit drying up at some of the larger traditional banks, credit unions are becoming more increasingly important, especially when it comes to the small businesses, the community-oriented businesses that need relatively small lines of credit," Gillibrand said.

Gillibrand said there is bipartisan support for the legislation in the senate and she expects a vote on the bill in the next few weeks.