• Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives Take Giant Leap
• Senate Health IT Bill Hopes To Quell Privacy Concerns
• New Law Benefits Texas Small Businesses

Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives Take Giant Leap

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a host of initiatives designed to update and modernize business development programs offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The legislation increases assistance to women and veteran business owners and is being called “the most comprehensive restructuring of entrepreneurial development programs in nearly a decade” by the office of House Small Business Committee Chairwoman, Nydia Velázquez of New York. “The SBA’s programs offer support to entrepreneurs throughout every stage of their business’s creation and development,” remarked Kristie Dairen, executive director of the NASE legislative office. “We’re pleased to see that Congress has taken such a significant step towards aiding the growth of the economy and creating jobs by helping small businesses.” The House passed four initiatives to bolster the nation’s smallest firms: H.R. 2359, the SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs Act of 2007, gives a more substantial role to Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), the SBA’s statewide counseling and resource hubs, as well as expands the reach of the SCORE program. H.R. 2397, the SBA Women's Business Programs Act of 2007, provides greater national presence of and increased structure within Women Business Centers. H.R. 2366, the SBA Veterans' Programs Act of 2007, gives funding for an increase in the number of Veterans Business Outreach Centers. H.R. 2284, the Native American Small Business Development Act of 2007, offers specialized business assistance to business owners of Native American descent. The initiatives are currently under review by the Senate. To read more about the legislation, search by bill number at http://thomas.loc.gov.

Senate Health IT Bill Hopes To Quell Privacy Concerns A bipartisan proposal hopes to alleviate anxiety surrounding electronic health records by requiring that the national health IT framework include robust privacy standards. The Wired for Health Care Quality Act of 2007 would also put a system in place to alert patients in the event that their personal information becomes compromised. In addition to receiving two-party support, the IT bill also boasts a team of powerful Senate backers, including Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Ted Kennedy, D-MA, as well as Republicans Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Orrin Hatch of Utah. “We’re facing a Tower of Babel in health care,” remarked Senator Hatch. “If we don’t act, we’ll soon have completely different standards for publicly and privately insured patients. That will seriously impair the improvements in care that we all want to see through the use of health information technology. We simply can’t miss this chance.” A national health IT system has been touted as an effective way for the medical community to track patient allergies and current prescriptions, since it can display a patient’s entire medical history. The system also creates alerts about when patients are due to schedule preventative care appointments. According to government estimates, the nation would save $140 billion each year from proper IT use, which could cut the cost of a family’s insurance policy by over $700. For more information about the bipartisan health IT bill, visit http://kennedy.senate.gov/newsroom/press_releases.cfm.   New Law Benefits Texas Small Businesses   Taking a cue from the federal government, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law a bill that requires lawmakers to take the needs of small businesses into account when drafting state legislation. The mandate compels certain new proposals to include potential economic impact reports for small businesses as well offer legislative alternatives that are less burdensome for small businesses. “The law is a step in the right direction in that it helps to even the playing field for small enterprises,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the NASE legislative office. “However, what impacts a business with 500 or even 50 employees is much different than what impacts the self-employed and micro-businesses.” The Lone Star State’s economy is driven by entrepreneurs. According to a 2005 Office of Advocacy study, 98.7 percent of Texas businesses were small businesses, and they employed 47.7 percent of the state’s private workforce. A similar law was put in place earlier this year giving the U.S. House Small Business Committee an extended reach to act on measures that impact the nation's small firms. House Bill 3430 will take effect in October. For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo. Share your experiences as a micro-business owner! Sound off on key legislative issues and get some free publicity for your business in the process by becoming a media contact. 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. If getting involved in the legislative process suits you better, go to the Advocacy page and “Tell Your Story” (http://advocacy.nase.org/issues/issues.asp). You have the option of allowing the NASE to share your micro-business story with your Members of Congress. By allowing the NASE to tell your story to legislators, you can play a vital role in illustrating the real life consequences and affects of issues they debate on a daily basis.