| Weekly Update from Sam |
| Dear Friends,
Small businesses are innovators and job creators, and they’ve proven themselves in federal contracting by efficiently delivering products and services to the government. In many cases, innovative and agile small businesses can fulfill a contract more efficiently and at a lower cost than their larger counterparts. The key is ensuring that small companies have those opportunities. We’re making progress, but there’s much more to be done. The federal government contracts out nearly $500 billion each year to private sector companies, and finding savings will add up for taxpayers.
The Committee has been working for several years to improve the small business playing field in federal contracting, and we’ve had some legislative successes that provide a foundation to build on. We’ve given the Administration new tools to contract with small businesses, and we’re holding agencies accountable for meeting those goals. For the first time in eight years, it appears that the Small Business Administration will report that federal agencies met the 23 percent goal. While we identified last year that they are over counting, it’s a move in the right direction. This week, the Committee passed six bills to reform federal contracting. Among them, the Committee passed a bill to increase the small business contracting goal for federal agencies from 23 percent to 25 percent. There’s plenty of room for federal agencies to do better.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves
Chairman
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Latest Committee Action
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On Wednesday, the Committee marked up seven small business bills, including six reforms to federal contracting. These bills include higher goals for small business contracting and subcontracting; more transparency in contract bundling; improved construction procurement procedures; opportunities for service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses; and other reforms. Read a brief summary of all six bills here. Prior Committee efforts to make reforms have become law. The National Defense Authorization Acts of 2013 and 2014 incorporated several Committee-sponsored contracting provisions.
On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce led by Chairman Richard Hanna (R-NY), held a hearing to examine the effect of the President's health care law on self-employed businesses. There are 15 million self-employed American small businesses. Many are facing higher health insurance costs, changing provider networks, disruption in their coverage, and general confusion about what the health law requires as the rules change without notice. Many of these businesses rely on the individual market to get their coverage and haven’t benefited from delays and preferences that apply to larger employers. In related action, on Wednesday, the House passed H.R. 4118 to delay the penalty for not complying with the health care law’s individual mandate. Under this responsible legislative solution, the self-employed receive the same delay in the health care law mandate that other businesses already have. Read the statement by Chairman Graves.
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News from Washington
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On Wednesday, by a bipartisan vote of 250-160, the House passed the Individual Mandate Penalty Law Equals Fairness Act (H.R. 4118) to delay the penalty for complying with the health care law’s requirements. This ensures fairness and applies the law equitably, since the President has already unilaterally waved parts of the law, including the mandate for businesses.
On Thursday, by a vote of 229-183, the House passed the Electricity Security and Affordability Act (H.R. 3826), which provides an alternative to EPA greenhouse gas regulations to ensure affordable, reliable power produced under consistent, common sense standards.
On Thursday, by a vote of 229-179, the House passed the Responsibly and Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act (H.R. 2641), which streamlines permitting, environmental processes and regulatory review for construction projects undertaken by federal agencies.
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Notable Op-Ed
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Small Businesses Bear Brunt of Health Care Law
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| March 7, 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 The President's budget does not balance, it adds $8.3 tril to the debt over next 10 yrs. It grows the gov instead of growing the #economy.
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