NSBA Meets with Small Business Officials

Feb 24, 2010

NSBA earlier this week held its Board of Trustees meeting in Washington, D.C. and heard from a number of compelling speakers. Throughout the meeting, Trustees discussed the need to engage Congress in legislation that will truly help small business and promote entrepreneurial job growth in the coming months. Small-business access to capital and health care reform were the most widely-discussed issues among the guest speakers and Trustees.

Kick-starting the issue briefing was Gene Sperling, Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Treasury. Mr. Sperling has been at the epicenter of the administration'sresponse to the economic downturn, and previously served as the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) in the second Clinton Administration. While Mr. Sperling has been involved in all facets of economic policy, he is widely seen as the architect of the new efforts to promote small-business lending through community banks. Mr. Sperling's refreshingly candid and straightforward comments provided valuable insight into the administration's efforts on enhancing capital opportunities for small businesses.

The next speaker addressed some key issues for small-business owners: labor and benefit laws. Ms. Kyle Hicks, Labor Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions attended the briefing on behalf of Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), and thanked NSBA for our efforts in fighting back Card Check legislation as well as some of the most egregious mandated paid sick-leave proposals. Ms. Hicks stated that, despite the thoughts of many that the super-majority of Democrats would clear the way for enactment of many of these bills, the involvement of the small-business community has helped educate lawmakers on the downsides of such bills, and resulted in relatively little action on any of them.

Ms. Holly Porter provided expert tax insight to Trustees as the final speaker during the briefing. As the Tax Counsel for the powerful Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Ms. Porter handles all tax issues related to small business, corporate, and pass-through entities. A key staffer on the Finance Committee, Ms. Porter outlined some of the tax proposals small businesses can expect in the coming year from the Finance committee, and addressed some of the key issues facing small businesses today.

During the Board meeting the following day, NSBA Trustees were joined by The Honorable Karen Mills, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Don Cravins, Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Susan Walthall, Acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the SBA.

Administrator Mills outlined some of the key initiatives SBA has undertaken to improve the capital situation for small businesses and underscored the importance of the raised guarantee level (up to 90 percent) as passed previously under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Unfortunately that guarantee level and the elimination of up-front borrower fees have lapsed and reverted back to pre-ARRA levels -- a problem for many small-business owners.

Mr. Cravins talked with NSBA about some of Senate Small Business Committee Chair Mary Landrieu's (D-La.) priorities for small business, namely eliminating the tax on self-employed individuals' health insurance, ensuring small businesses are protected by credit-card reforms, enacting a reasonable SBIR reauthorization, and ensuring the jobs bill helps small-business owners. Both NSBA Trustees and Mr. Cravins made note of the important relationship shared by NSBA and the Committee in working to promote pro-small business policies.

Additionally, Chris Lynch and Byron Kennard of the Center for Small Business and the Environment joined NSBA Trustees to discuss NSBA's energy and climate policy, and outline the latest happenings in the world of small-business energy efficiency as it relates to legislative proposals.

NSBA thanks all guest speakers for their time and valuable insight.