On Tuesday, eight House Small Business Committee Members spoke on the floor asking, “Where are the Jobs?” Rep. Mike Coffman, Rep. Steve King, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Rep. Mary Fallin, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, Rep. Aaron Schock and Rep. Glenn Thompson. Watch Clips Here.
New York Times: Obama Meets the Businesswoman: The Story Behind the Photo
Fox News Video Clip: Small Biz Owners Warn National Healthcare will Kill Jobs
In other News:
On Tuesday, July 28th, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN), Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Small Business Committee Ranking Member, Sam Graves (R-MO) gathered a group of small business owners from across the U.S. to discuss the negative impact of Speaker Pelosi’s health care legislation on small firms.
Some of the small business owners attending the roundtable were:
STEVE ROSENFIELD – Westminster, CO
Steve Rosenfield is the owner of By the Rockies, LLC. He owns several Carl’s Jr. locations in California, Colorado, Georgia, Montana, and Wyoming with a partner, and an additional twenty-one with another. Employing many workers in several states, Steve is concerned about the negative impact that the Democrats’ health care reform plan would have on his franchises.
LISA DOLAN, CPP – Queens County, NY
Lisa Dolan is President of People’s Accident Information Service, Inc., d/b/a Securit®, a private investigations firm licensed in multiple East Coast states including: Pennsylvania; Florida; Virginia; New York; and New Jersey. Lisa’s small business provides security workers for hire and investigations services. She’s extremely concerned about coverage mandates and the cost of an additional payroll tax.
MAUREEN O’CONNOR – Bronx, NY
Maureen O’Connor is the owner of Center Sheet Metal, Inc., located in the Bronx. As a small business owner, Maureen pays the premiums for her employees’ health care coverage at no cost to her non-union workers. She’s concerned that under Speaker Pelosi’s plan, keeping the health care plans she currently offers would be even more expensive than a penalty tax.
Administration and the SBA:
On Friday, the House passed legislation to provide an additional $2 billion to extend the Cash for Clunkers program. According to reports, government officials at the DOT underestimated the popularity of the program, which provides up to a $4,500 rebate for vehicles with bad gas mileage when buying a new more fuel efficient one, and threatened to suspend the program because the money was running on empty. However, the Obama Administration said that no such suspension was planned and that all valid transactions under the program would be honored. Car salesman Rob Bojaryn had the following to say about these concerns, “If they can't administer a program like this, I'd be a little concerned about my health insurance.”
Review of House Activity:
Today, the House passed H.R. 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act. This legislation is aimed at curbing excessive executive compensation and is one of the first pieces of President Obama’s plan to overhaul financial market regulation.
On Thursday, the House passed H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act after it failed on the suspension calendar earlier in the week. Concerns were raised from the agriculture community that the bill gave the Food and Drug Administration too much authority to regulate activities involving animals. In addition, Ranking Member Frank Lucas (OK-R) said the changes made over the previous 24 hours were good, but they did not go far enough. He said the bill would drive up consumers’ food costs and force businesses overseas. The bill would require the FDA to create a food traceability system, would allow the FDA to impose civil penalties, and implements mandatory food quarantines for the first time.
On Thursday, the House passed the FY10 Defense spending bill, the final appropriations bill for FY10 in the House. The Senate still needs to act on many of the appropriation measures before President Obama can sign them into law. Lawmakers adopted a manager’s amendment that would reallocate $369 million for the F-22 program toward other programs, including the purchase of spare parts for the 187 existing F-22s.
On Wednesday, the House passed legislation that would extend $7 billion from the Treasury’s General Fund into the Highway Trust Fund, addressing a shortfall. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) is planning a long-term fix and is fighting the Administration and Senate over a long term extension that would push reauthorization until after the 2010 elections.
On Tuesday, the House unanimously passed H.R. 1807 and H.R. 1803 bills sponsored by Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) Rep. Glenn Nye (D-VA) respectively. Both members serve on the Small Business Committee. Mr. Thompson (R-PA) bill will provide high-quality tele-distance training through a competitive grants process. The program will promote peer-to-peer networking for small business development by using technology to deliver information and share data on-line and through videos and satellite communication. In addition, H.R. 1803 creates a national network of Veterans’ Business Centers that will provide business support and counseling to veteran entrepreneurs. Both programs will be administered by the Small Business Administration. The House had previously passed these provisions as part of a larger package of legislation (H.R. 2352) aimed at improving a range of entrepreneurship programs, but after clearing the House, the bill had stalled in the Senate. Passing these bills individually will improve its chances of advancing through the legislative process
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On Tuesday the House also passed legislation extending programs within the Small Business Administration through the fiscal year, ending September 30th, 2009. Negotiations with the Senate over the Small Business Innovative Research Program will continue through August and September with an expectation that differences will be resolved and a long term reauthorization will pass before the September 30th deadline.
Legislation and Letters Circulating Around the House: (If you would like to publicize your small business effort in Congress, please email Paul J. Sass at Paul.Sass@mail.house.gov)
Rep. Blackburn Seeks Members to Sign H.R. 391 Discharge Petition on the Floor - As the House version of the cap-and-trade bill languishes in the Senate, the EPA continues its progress towards implementing energy and emission restrictions by regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. H.R. 391 would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and protect the interests of American farmers, consumers, and businesses. If the EPA is not stopped now, it will issue regulations that will effectively shut down economic growth and expansion in America and pre-empt Congress’s consideration of cap-and-trade legislation. If your boss believes that Congress should be the sole authority deciding if greenhouse gases should be regulated, Congresswoman Blackburn encourages your boss to sign the discharge petition to bring H.R. 391 to the floor. We cannot let unelected bureaucrats fundamentally change the energy policy of America without the consent of Congress. The petition can be signed on the House floor during votes. Contact Rodney Bacigalupo for further information or with questions at Rodney.Bacigalupo@mail.house.gov or 5-2811
Review of Senate Activity:
Last night, the Senate cleared a bill that extends funding for the Highway Trust Fund through the current fiscal year, which ends in September. The bill would transfer $7 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund, which is expected to run short of cash sometime in August. The legislation now heads the President Obama for his signature.
On Wednesday, the Senate passed its FY10 Energy and Water spending bill. The bill provides funding for the Energy Department, the Army Corps of Engineers water infrastructure projects, and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation. The House passed its version on July 17th and the bills await a conference meeting before the final version goes back to each body and the President
House Small Business Committee hearing summary this week:
On Wednesday, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Small Business Administration and its Programs.” The witnesses at the hearing were: The Honorable Karen Mills, Administrator, United States Small Business Administration, Washington, DC; and William Shear, Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment, Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC. Administrator Mills praised the efforts of the Administration in trying to stimulate economic recovery by providing increased capital to small business owners. Administrator Mills noted an increase in lending since the enactment of the stimulus. The Administrator also noted her commitment to ensuring a transparent use of funds allocated in the stimulus. She also commented that there was no room for fraud or abuse in Small Business Administration programs, including the procurement programs such as 8(a) or HUBZone. Mr. Shear reported on the findings of the latest study conducted by his organization and revealed that weaknesses still exist in the SBA’s capacity to respond to natural disasters. Mr. Shear remains troubled by the efforts of the agency to root out abuses in the HUBZone program. The Chair and Ranking Member promised to maintain scrutiny on the SBA and its implementation of recommendations from GAO.
On Thursday, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Future of Specialty Crops for Small Family Farmers.” The witness on the first panel was the Honorable Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. The witnesses on the second panel were: Bill Holbrook, Owner, Cold Mountain Farms, Waynesville, NC; Kenny Barnwell, Owner, Kenny Barnwell Orchards, Edneyville, NC; Mark Williams, Chief Financial Officer, Flavor 1st Growers & Packers, Horse Shoe, NC for the United Fresh Produce Association; Rich Hudgins, President & CEO, California Canning Peach Association, Sacramento, CA for the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; and Jim Anderson, Executive Director, Missouri Wine and Grape Board, Jefferson, MO. Deputy Secretary Merrigan noted that fruits, vegetables and specialty crops, particularly those that are grown and consumed locally, are vitally important to the Administration. The Deputy Secretary testified that the Administration is committed to improving the economic health of specialty crop producers through vigilant implementation of Title X of the Farm Bill, as well as other initiatives.
Mr. Holbrook testified that there are numerous challenges to success as a specialty crop producer. However, he noted that Title X of the Farm Bill will provide additional assistance to specialty crop producers. Mr. Barnwell mentioned that specialty crop producers, despite the absence of targeted assistance in previous versions of the Farm bill, continue to thrive. According to Mr. Barnwell, the critical component for specialty crop producers is an adequate system of crop insurance, a sentiment to which Mr. Holbrook concurred. Mr. Williams stated that the main issues facing specialty crop producers were food safety matters, adequate tools for risk management (including crop insurance), and access to credit. Mr. Hudgins commented that the issues facing California cling peach producers were climate change, food safety, an adequate labor force which may require changes in the federal immigration laws, access to water supplies, and the need to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act. Mr. Anderson praised Title X of the Farm Bill and particularly the clean plant provisions that will ensure wineries access to disease-free propagative stock. Mr. Anderson also noted that specialty crops create significant opportunities in agri-tourism and related rural development typically not available from producers of staples.
The Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee promised continued vigilant oversight of the Department’s assistance to specialty crop producers and ruminated on the possibility of submitting a report to relevant committees on the findings made at the hearing.
Looking Forward:
The Congress will be in recess for August; therefore, Ranking Member Sam Graves’ Small Biz Straight Talk will be released next in September.
