News from the Small Business Committee:
(Please send any Member media activity to Alexandra.Haynes@mail.house.gov)
• Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) offered a bipartisan amendment to the financial regulatory reform bill (H.R. 4173), that would help protect small businesses from harmful federal regulations. Read more about the amendment here. Although Mr. Graves’ amendment was initially rejected, the provision was ultimately included in the final compromise legislation.
• Ranking Member Graves had an op-ed published on the health care small business tax credit in the publication Alliance for Affordable Services.
• As a co-chair of the Rural America Solutions Group, Ranking Member Graves joined in sending a letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall asking for hearings on H.R. 5088, America's Commitment to Clean Water Act. Read the letter here.
• Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) condemned the Democrats’ refusal to implement a budget.
• Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland (R-GA) issued a statement on the three month anniversary of ObamaCare.
• Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) voted to save Americans billions of dollars by prohibiting new funding for the IRS for the purpose of enforcing the new health care law.
• Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA) released a statement about the unmanageable paperwork that the new health care law will levy on small businesses.
• Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) released a statement marking the three month anniversary of the enactment of the government takeover of health care.
Updates from Washington:
(Please send any Member initiatives related to small business and job creation to Paul.Sass@mail.house.gov)
• On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced that House Democrats will not pass a budget this year. In the past, Mr. Hoyer referred to budgeting as “the most basic responsibility” of governing.
• The Senate is still struggling to gain consensus on a package of tax cut extensions and unemployment benefits that passed the House in May. Senate Republicans are still unwilling to support the so-called “tax extenders” legislation because of its tax increases and added deficit spending.
• On a related note, a measure to reverse cuts in Medicare payments to physicians was separated from the broader “tax extenders” package and brought to the House and Senate floors as a stand-alone bill. The Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act (H.R. 3962) will delay a 21 percent cut to Medicare reimbursement rates for six months. The bill passed both the House and Senate this week, and President Obama is expected to sign it into law. This is yet another example of the lack of Congressional leadership in Washington. Rather than working together to address the “doc fix” problem once and for all, Majority Leaders have chosen to enact another temporary fix and delay dealing with the problem until after the November elections.
• Since June 10th, bipartisan Members of the House and Senate have been working to develop a compromise between House and Senate versions of financial regulatory reform legislation. Early this morning, an agreement was reached on compromise legislation to establish broad new government oversight of Wall Street and our financial and credit markets. The text of an amendment offered by Ranking Member Graves, Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Representative Heath Shuler (D-NC) was ultimately included in the final compromise bill. The conference report may be voted on in the House and Senate next week. Read more about the compromise here.
News and Resources for Small Business Owners:
• The Heritage Foundation published the 2010 edition of “Federal Spending by the Numbers.”
• The SBA Office of Advocacy released a study entitled, “Structure of Household Debt of Small Business Owners in the United States.”
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