| Dear Friends,
The year ahead – the second year of the 113th Congress – promises to continue the busy pace of 2013 in the Small Business Committee. Many of the legislative issues and debates this year will have an impact on the nation’s 28 million small businesses, job creation and the rural and Main Street economies. In 2014, we expect a continued focus on health care, federal contracting, regulations and taxes, as well as the Small Business Administration’s operations, including its capital access programs and counseling services for our nation’s startups and small firms.
We’re pleased to report to you that in 2013, the Committee held 51 hearings and roundtables on a wide spectrum of small business concerns and interests, including testimony from 24 Obama administration officials. The total oversight efforts, through hearings and other contacts, included 40 federal agencies.
An ongoing project of the Committee, started one year ago, is our “Small Biz Reg Watch” to alert small businesses of federal regulations that could affect them, while those proposed rules are still in the pipeline so that small firms can have their voices heard.
We look forward to a productive year representing and serving America’s small businesses.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves
Chairman
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On December 26, 2013, the Committee’s contracting legislation was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014, which authorizes all defense spending and construction for the year ahead. The law included two legislative sections introduced by Chairman Graves and the Committee on behalf of small businesses.
One section helps small businesses compete for Defense Department contracts and provides clearer guidelines on subcontracting rules, so small businesses know to follow the Small Business Act’s requirements. A second section, originally introduced as the Make Every Small Business Count Act, provides incentives to federal prime contractors to ensure they consider small businesses for subcontracts.
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