| Weekly Update from Sam |
| Dear Friends,
Jobs are still scarce in this economy. The key statistic in the latest jobs report from December is this: for every person who found a job, another four quit looking. People dropping out of the labor force has been a problem throughout the economy’s slow recovery, and the Labor Force Participation Rate has now dropped to 62.8 percent, which is a 35-year low. That is not what a thriving economy looks like.
Red tape, rising health care costs, economic uncertainty and the tax increase on many small businesses in 2013 are – predictably – not helping small firms grow and hire more people. Washington has been getting in the way of innovators and job creators for too long. It hasn’t worked, and it won’t work. Bureaucratic interference and broken promises won’t build the businesses that hire more Americans.
I welcome President Obama’s overdue nomination this week of a new SBA Administrator. If she is confirmed, I would urge her to become the voice for small businesses that this administration needs.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves
Chairman
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Latest Committee Action
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On Wednesday, the Committee held a hearing examining the rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) businesses and their evolving role in economic growth, innovation and job creation. A P2P business creates a platform which acts as a conduit between buyers and sellers or entrepreneurs and consumers. Forbes estimated in 2013 that revenue from the so-called sharing economy was likely to surpass $3.5 billion. While the economic effects are still being analyzed, it appears clear that the P2P business model is shifting parts of the economy while reducing barriers to entry into the marketplace. In a volatile economy, P2P businesses are adding jobs by generating new sources of income for individuals who can more easily monetize their skills and assets.
On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations held a hearing examining crowdfunding’s job creation impact. The Subcommittee heard testimony regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rules, and how they are expected to affect both the crowdfunding model and small businesses seeking to use it as a source of capital. The SEC recently issued proposed rules implementing Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012, which will place restrictions on crowdfunding investment and add new compliance requirements for small businesses and the web portals and intermediaries that connect entrepreneurs and investors.
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News from Washington
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On Wednesday, by a vote of 359-67, the House passed bipartisan legislation to fund the government through September 30, 2014. The bill lowers discretionary spending to pre-Obama administration levels, and is the fourth year in a row that total discretionary spending has been reduced. The legislation keeps the government open, avoids earmarks and restores some Defense funding that had been scheduled for cuts under the automatic sequester.
On Thursday, by a bipartisan vote of 259-154, the House passed the Exchange Information Disclosure Act (H.R. 3362). This legislation requires more transparency in the health care law. The bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to release weekly reports on the health insurance exchanges through March 2015, including the number of people who have paid premiums.
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In Their Own Words
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“Because we are a small manufacturer in Massachusetts, we already have the highest health care costs in the US. The ACA has made things exponentially worse. It has slowed economic growth considerably and completely hampered our ability to hire new people. Washington IS the problem."
– Mark S., Lenn Arts, Inc., Attleboro, MA |
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| January 17, 2014 |
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| What We're Reading |
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Small Biz Resources
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| Tweet of the Week |
| @SmallBizGOP Easy to see the disconnect between Obama Admin, which issued $447 mil/day in regulatory costs in 2013, and #SmallBiz pic.twitter.com/N7PP0IDPTW
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