News from Ranking Member Sam Graves and Committee Republicans:
(Please send any member media activity to Kelly.Hoffman@mail.house.gov)

• Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) in the American Chronicle “GOP rebuffs details of Obama health plan”

• Rep. Steve King (R-IA) op-ed “True economic stimulus can be achieved with FairTax”

• Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) spoke on the House floor about small businesses and jobs

• Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) spoke on the House floor asking “Where Are the Jobs?”

• Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) appeared on MSNBC and discussed the Senate “Jobs” bill and health care legislation

Must-Reads from the Week:

• Washington Post: Lack of customers, assets stunting growth of small business

• Business Week: Obama’s Tax-Credit Plans May Fail to Stimulate Hiring

Administration and the SBA:

• On Thursday, President Obama held a healthcare summit with leaders from both the House and Senate. There was little accomplished in the meeting, as Republicans asked Democrats to start over and work in a bi-partisan manner to develop health care legislation. Democrats prefer to continue to make minor changes to their current bloated plan. It is unclear how Democrat leaders plan to move forward. They refused to rule out using the parliamentary tactic of budget reconciliation to pass their bill.

Review of House Activity:

• On Tuesday, the House passed H.R. 2314, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 by, a 245-164 margin, despite objections from Hawaii’s governor. The legislation will allow Native Hawaiians to form their own government and provides sovereign immunity. Republican members expressed concerns that the bill is divisive and gives Congress the ability to exempt certain populations from the Constitution.

• On Wednesday, the House approved H.R. 4626, the “Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act,” by a vote of 406-19.  The bill repeals the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

• On Thursday, the House passed H.R. 4691, which extends unemployment benefits, COBRA premium assistance, the highway trust fund, the increase in Medicare physician payments, the flood insurance program, and the SBA loan fee waiver from the Democrats' "stimulus" bill through March 28, 2010.  Under current law, the programs would expire on February 28, 2010. 

• On Thursday night, the House passed H.R. 3961 by a vote of 315-97.  The bill extends three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 for one year.

• On Friday, the House passed H.R. 2701, the “Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010,” by a vote of 235-168.  The authorized intelligence activities are intended to improve national security, support the Armed Forces, and aid U.S. foreign policy. Republicans have expressed concerns about the bill, including the failure to address critical intelligence flaws revealed after the Fort Hood shooting.

Legislation and Letters Circulating Around the House: (If you would like to publicize your small business effort in Congress, please email Paul Sass at Paul.Sass@mail.house.gov)

• Rep. Barton (R-TX) Seeks Cosponsors for a Resolution of Disapproval Preventing the Environment Protection Agency from Promulgating Greenhouse Gas Rules - The Congressional Review Act gives Congress the authority to nullify a Federal agency or department regulation if a Resolution of Disapproval becomes law.  With this authority, Congress can stop the EPA from acting on its Endangerment Finding on greenhouse gases – a regulation the Obama Administration is pushing without regard for its disastrous impact on jobs in this country.  To become an original cosponsor of the Resolution of Disapproval authored by Rep. Joe Barton that would accomplish this goal, please email Garrett Golding at Garrett.Golding@mail.house.gov no later than COB today. 

• Rep. Manzullo (R-IL) Seeks Cosponsors for the American Jobs Creation Act - Congress enacted a gradual domestic manufacturing tax deduction to replace the Foreign Sales Corporation/Extraterritorial Income (FSC/ETI) tax structure that was ruled as an illegal export subsidy by the World Trade Organization (WTO).  The tax deduction started at 3% in 2005; rose to 6% in 2007; and finalized at 9% in 2010.  However, manufacturers have to wait until next year in order to recover any benefit from the final phase-in of this “insourcing” tax incentive.  H.R. 4189 simply provides an additional 3% tax benefit now to domestic manufacturers to provide them with more capital to invest in new hires or in new plant or equipment in the United States.  Over 530,000 firms took advantage of this “insourcing” tax deduction in 2007.  To become a cosponsor of H.R. 4189, please email Phil Eskeland at 5-5676 or Phil.Eskeland@mail.house.gov. 

Review of Senate Activity:

• On Wednesday, the Senate passed H.R. 2847, a $15 billion “jobs” package by a vote of 70-28.  The legislation will provide an extension of the Highway Trust Fund, the Build America Bonds program, and small business expensing. The bill also includes a $13 billion payroll tax credit for companies that hire unemployed workers. However, industry experts have questioned the effectiveness of the payroll tax credit because of the shortage in customer demand, and argue that efforts to increase demand for goods and services would be more productive. 

• The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss trade and tax issues relating to small business job creation.  Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) stated: “With unemployment at unacceptably high levels, Congress should not be raising taxes on small businesses, which create 70 percent of the net new jobs in America.  The worst thing that could happen to small business' ability to create new jobs is to hit them with a job-killing tax hike."  Bill Rys, tax counsel at the National Federation of Independent Business, recommended that Congress extend the 2001 and 2003 tax relief. He pointed out that 75 percent of small businesses are pass-through entities and pay their business taxes at the individual level.  Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, focused his testimony on marginal income tax rates. He objected to Obama administration proposals to raise the top two individual income tax rates from 33 and 35 percent to 36 and 39.6 percent, respectively, in 2011. “That would likely harm investment, job creation, and growth,” he said. “Higher marginal tax rates reduce incentives for productive activities, such as working and expanding businesses, and they increase incentives for unproductive activities, such as tax avoidance and evasion.”

• Senate Small Business Committee  Chairwoman Landrieu (D-LA), Ranking Member Snowe (R-ME), Senator Bond (R-MO), and Senator Merkley (D-OR) introduced legislation that seeks to improve the Historically Underutilized Business Zone or HUBZone program, which provides contracting assistance to small businesses located in economically distressed regions. According to Ranking Member Snowe’s press release the legislation addresses the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recommendations for improving the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) management and oversight of the HUBZone program.

Other Small Business News off the Hill:

• The Heritage Foundation posted a web memo “Senate Jobs Bill: An Ineffective Means of Reducing Unemployment”

 
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