Bloomberg BNA: Lawmaker Wants E-Signatures for SBA Loans; Says Proposal Would Cut Application Time September 18, 2014 Sept. 18 (BNA) -- The Small Business Administration would have to accept electronic signatures in its financing programs under a proposal that the sponsor says would cut the loan application process an average of two to three days.   A 2000 law, the… Read more »

POLITICO Pro: CMS: No enrollment numbers for SHOP September 18, 2014 By Brett Norman A CMS official told a House panel this afternoon that she could not provide enrollment numbers in Obmacare’s small business exchanges.   Mayra Alvarez, director of the state exchange group at CCIIO, said that the agency “is not the source of SHOP enrollment," because businesses did not have… Read more »

Bloomberg BNA: CMS Needs to Provide Congress SHOP Data On Enrollments, Rep. Collins Says at Hearing By Sean Forbes  September 18, 2014   Republican members of a subcommittee of the House Committee on Small Business insisted at a hearing on Affordable Care Act small business exchanges that the administration must provide hard data to Congress in order to have an unbiased… Read more »

House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) released the following statement in support of the House vote on the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act (HR 5078), which would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing their proposed rule that would redefine “waters of the United States” under… Read more »

By Deborah Billings, Bloomberg BNA Aug. 1 (BNA) -- The federal government awarded $83.1 billion in prime contracts to small businesses in fiscal year 2013, exceeding its 23-percent goal for the first time in eight years, according to official statistics released Aug. 1. However, the government fell 2 percent short of expectations that small firms receive 36 percent of subcontracted… Read more »

 E&E News: In final House appearance, Perciasepe spars with Republicans over waters rule, trust issues By Amanda Peterka, E&E Reporter July 31, 2014  The House Small Business Committee yesterday sent departing U.S. EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe off with a contentious hearing over agency regulations.   Throughout the hearing, House lawmakers sparred… Read more »

CQ: Growth of Telehealth May Hinge on Government Commitment By Kerry Young, CQ HealthBeat Associate Editor July 31, 2014 Doctors, researchers and officials at companies such as Humana Inc. are tinkering with ideas for expanding the use of remote medical visits and services, but the true driver for expansion of telehealth likely will be the nation’s biggest purchaser of health… Read more »

POLITICO eHealth: Broadband: The other big obstacle to telemedicine By David Pittman July 31, 2014  A lack of good Internet connections is nearly as big an obstacle to increasing telemedicine as the lack of Medicare funding for the services, witnesses told a congressional hearing Thursday.   Many hospitals and doctors’ offices across the country lack broadband or… Read more »

Bloomberg BNA: EPA Has Lost Credibility With Land Owners, Small Business Committee Republicans Say By Dean Scott July 30, 2014 House Small Business Committee Republicans told a top Environmental Protection Agency official July 30 that the agency has lost credibility with farmers, land owners and small businesses over an April proposal they fear would expand EPA jurisdiction of the… Read more »

Committee to Hold Hearings on the Implementation of Contracting Reforms and Impact of Occupational Licensing on Entrepreneurship The House Small Business Committee, chaired by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), today announced the schedule for the week of July 14, 2014:   On Tuesday, July 15, at 1:00 p.m., the Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce, under the chairmanship of… Read more »