• Governors Back State Insurance Program, With Reservations
• Energy Provisions May Affect Small Biz
• Science Foundation To Support Health IT Grants
• Accounting Law May Change Record-Keeping Methods

Governors Back State Insurance Program, With Reservations

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was once again a topic of discussion on Capitol Hill, as members of the Senate mulled over its reauthorization. The program was formed to assist children from low-income families in gaining access to health insurance and is currently funded through September. A letter from the NGA, dated June 7, urged the Senate Finance Committee to approve a bill that would continue funding for the decade-old program. However, the Governors cautioned against what they considered to be too rigid a policy: “[The] reauthorization should not diminish a states' flexibility to cover certain populations under current law or through federally-approved waivers,” they wrote. “It is important that the program allow Governors room within which to establish coverage policies that work best in their state.” The reauthorization bill they refer to was authored by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In a separate letter to the Senators, the Governors expressed concern that the measure will harm the states’ existing uninsured population. “While governors are strongly committed to improving the health care for the populations currently covered in the program, they are also committed to increasing access to health insurance for the 45 million Americans without any health coverage at all,” they wrote. “Additional mandates may divert resources that would otherwise be used to fund coverage expansions.” To read the Governors’ letter, visit http://www.nga.org/. To read more about the reauthorization bill, S 1224, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/.

Energy Provisions May Affect Small Biz House Democrats have formed an energy package that will provide tax cuts, but may include a measure to end accelerated depreciation of passenger sport utility vehicles over 6,000 pounds by small firm owners. Both chambers have been grappling over the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which sets the number of miles per gallon an auto manufacturer needs to average across the entire fleet of vehicles. Currently, vehicles of 8,500 pounds or more are exempt. However, there are particularly large passenger vehicles, like the Hummer, that now also fall into this category. Small business owners who use their vehicles for work purposes may be affected if the proposal is accepted. Now under review by the Senate, a similar bill is being offered to serve as a substitute to the House measure. It is unclear if the Senate proposal will include a similar provision on sport utility vehicles. Democrats in Congress are pushing to debate the energy legislation in the summer or early fall.   Science Foundation To Support Health IT Grants   The National Science Foundation will foster the research and advancement of the nation’s health IT field with nearly $100 million in grants through 2011. The bill, H.R. 1467, is named the “10,000 Trained by 2010 Act” since it seeks to train that number of health IT professionals in the next three years. As such, the House designated the bulk of the funds to developing training programs at institutions of higher learning; four-year colleges will receive $37.2 million and two-year colleges will garner $29.2, while an additional $18.6 million is slated to put centers for informatics research in place at selected colleges. The remaining $14.6 million will be used to study new approaches for improving information systems. The passage comes amidst efforts by advocacy groups to promote the passage of legislation on health IT. Currently, no measures have made it through Congress. The proposal has been forwarded on to the Senate for discussion. To read the full text of the bill, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/. Accounting Law May Change Record-Keeping Methods A financial services bill which includes funding for the Securities Exchange Commission and the IRS could carry an amendment to create an advocate for businesses looking to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Section 404 of the law has been particularly troublesome to small firms and sets standards in place that require the establishment of internal control frameworks and the filing of reports on these frameworks. Though the law was intended to apply to publicly traded firms, small private operations are also being affected. Companies that subcontract or otherwise do work with larger public corporations are often asked to follow the parent company’s accounting policies. Both the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship and the House Small Business Committee have also explored ways to lessen the impact on the nation’s smallest firms, with ideas ranging from granting additional time to comply with the necessary paperwork to exempting the companies completely. One organization who has been in on these talks is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a governing body that was created as a result of the law. Become a media contact and get the opportunity to share your experiences as a micro-business owner! Visit www.NASE.org/mediarelations/contactsheet.asp to fill out an informational sheet on the background of your business. Then, send it back to us at the contact information listed on the sheet. You can put your name in the hat to sound off on key legislative issues, and get some free publicity for your business in the process.