The Arkansas Development Finance Authority, in addition to all the duties and functions defined in the Arkansas Development Finance Authority Act, §§ 15-5-101 — 15-5-106, 15-5-201 — 15-5-211, 15-5-213, and 15-5-301 — 15-5-316, is empowered to approve or deny by majority vote of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority the applications for direct loans and guaranties of obligations and qualified investments, except that, at the discretion of the board, approvals for loans up to any limit the board shall specify may be approved by the Small Business Loan Committee. The committee shall report all such actions taken at the next meeting of the board.