• Seven Small Business Measures Pass Senate Committee

• NASE President to Participate in Senate Roundtable

• House Leaves for Recess

• Next Women Entrepreneur Summit in Connecticut

Seven Small Business Measures Pass Senate Committee

The NASE applauds the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for taking the time last week to mark-up several bills designed to help small and micro-businesses. With only a few days left before the August recess, the Senate is taking up a full load of bills to vote on this week, including prescription drug legislation and homeland security. The committee's stamp of approval on seven measures clears the way for floor votes by the full Senate.

The seven bills are:

• The National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 2002 (S.2483)
  This bill would allow small-business development centers to provide micro-businesses with confidential, free-of-charge regulatory compliance assistance. (See article below for more on a S.2483 roundtable discussion where NASE President Robert Hughes is participating.)

• The Native American Small Business Development Act (S. 2335)
  This bill would establish a statutory program for Native Americans at the Small Business Administration (SBA) and create a grant program to help Native Americans open and run their own small businesses.

• The Small Business Drought Relief Act (S. 2734)
  This bill would allow small businesses suffering from the devastating economic impact of drought conditions to apply for economic injury loans through the SBA disaster loan program.

• The Small Business Federal Contractor Safeguard Act (S. 2466)
  This bill would close the loopholes in the current definition of a bundled contract and help ensure that federal agencies do not consolidate contracts unnecessarily, denying small businesses procurement opportunities.

• The Combined 8(a) and HUBZone Priority Preference Act (S. 1994)
  S. 1994 would give preference to businesses in economically depressed areas in awarding federal contracts.

• The Small and Disadvantaged Business Ombudsman Act (S. 2753)
  This bill would create a Small and Disadvantaged Business Ombudsman for Federal procurement at the SBA.

• The Vocational and Technical Entrepreneurship Development Act (H.R. 2666)
  This bill would allow small-business development centers to provide small business training to vocational education students.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the drought relief measure before the recess on August 5; the other bills will not be brought up until Congress returns in September.
 

NASE President to Participate in Senate Roundtable

NASE President Robert Hughes has been invited by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, to give the micro-business and self-employed perspective regarding compliance on federal regulations.

At a roundtable hearing this week, the committee will discuss the National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 2002 (S. 2483). The bill would establish a pilot program at the Small Business Administration to give grants to Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) in various states. The grants would allow SBDCs to provide regulatory compliance counseling to small businesses.

S. 2483 was marked up last week by the Senate committee and approved. However, after Ranking Member Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) expressed concern over whether SBDCs would duplicate services already provided through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the committee decided to convene a roundtable to iron out any other existing issues with the legislation.

Hughes plans to tell the committee that this legislation will greatly assist micro-business owners and the self-employed in dealing with onerous federal regulations.
 

House Leaves for Recess

Last week the House of Representatives started their summer recess – a month-long break from Washington, D.C., when members typically go on vacation and work in their District offices. The Senate is in session this week, but leaves on Saturday for their recess. Both Chambers will reconvene in September, when they will be busy trying to pass several major pieces of legislation before the November elections.
 

Next Women Entrepreneur Summit in Connecticut

The NASE is helping the Department of Labor, the Bush Administration and Members of Congress bring regional summits on women entrepreneurship to your area. The daylong conferences will focus on access to capital, developing your business, health care, procurement and regional opportunities and contacts. Next week, on August 8, the summit travels to New Britain, Conn. (near Hartford). The NASE encourages all area women business owners to attend. And don’t forget to stop by the NASE table and say hello to President Robert Hughes. Click here to register for the Connecticut event, or for more information about all the upcoming summits.

Do any of these issues affect you? Do you want to be proactive in helping the micro-business community? Visit the NASE's Legislative Action Center and be a Small Business Crusader. Members of Congress appreciate hearing from their constituents. Letting your members know how you feel on an issue puts strength behind the NASE legislative agenda.

For more information about any of the articles in Washington Watch, contact Maureen Petron, NASE public affairs manager, at (202) 466-2100 or mpetron@nase.org.