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Small Business Committee Newsletter Printer Friendly Version
Small Business Committee Notes
Friday, October 13, 2006 Printer Friendly Version
Small Business Committee Notes October 13, 2006 -- Issue 109-57 Phil Eskeland, Policy Director, House Committee on Small Business SPECIAL EDITION – LEGISLATIVE/ADMINISTRATION UPDATE _____________________________ SBA Extension Bill Signed into Law On Tuesday, October 10, after unanimous House and Senate passage, the President signed into law H.R. 6159, (now P.L. 109-316) authored by House Small Business Committee Chairman Donald Manzullo (R-IL), which extends the authorization of programs and policies of the Small Business Administration (SBA) until February 2, 2007. As per a September 27, 2006 letter sent by SBA Administrator Steven Preston to the Chair of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee, Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the SBA interprets H.R. 6159 to also apply to the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs, giving it an extension, too, until February 2, 2007. Please see SBC Notes 109-56 for more details about P.L. 109-316. _______________________________ WHTI Reforms Included in FY ‘07 DHS Appropriations Conference Report On Wednesday, October 4, the President signed into law the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations conference report (PL 109-295). Included in this spending bill were provisions in Section 546 giving DHS and the Department of State (DOS) up to an additional 18 months to implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L 108-458) created WHTI with an initial goal of requiring all travelers – regardless of age – to and from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to have a passport or other acceptable document that establishes the bearer’s identity and nationality to enter or re-enter the United States. WHTI was to go into effect for all air and sea travelers by January 1, 2007 and for all land travelers by January 1, 2008. Since passage of P.L. 108-458 in December 2004, DOS and DHS were developing a new passport-like card to comply with WHTI for U.S. citizens who do not have or do not wish to purchase a more expensive passport. Under Section 546 of P.L. 109-295, DHS and DOS are given now until June 1, 2009 to implement WHTI. If DHS and DOS wish to implement WHTI sooner than June 1, 2009, the departments would have to certify to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that the following conditions are met: The National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) certifies that DHS and DOS have selected a card architecture that meets or exceeds International Organization for Standardization (ISO) security standards or exceeds best available practices for protection of personal identification documents. NIST shall also assist DHS and DOS to incorporate into the architecture of the card the best available practices to prevent the unauthorized use of information on the card. In addition, DHS and DOS shall develop an architecture that is compatible with information technology systems and infrastructure used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The technology used by the U.S. for the passport card and any subsequent change to that technology has been shared with the governments of Canada and Mexico. An agreement has been reached with the U.S. Postal Service on the fee to be charged individuals for the passport card and a detailed justification has been submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. An alternative procedure has been developed for groups of children traveling across an international border under adult supervision with parental consent. The necessary technological infrastructure to process the passport cards has been installed and all employees at ports of entry have been properly trained in the use of the new technology. The passport card has been made available for the purpose of international travel by U.S. citizens through land and sea ports of entry between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. A single implementation date for sea and land borders has been established. Finally, if DHS and DOS implements WHTI sooner than June 1, 2009, DHS and DOS must also give the public at least three months warning that WHTI is going into effect. The problems associated with WHTI for small business were the subject of a House Small Business Committee hearing last November (see SBC Notes 109-29). Chairman Donald Manzullo is pleased with the outcome of this conference report that incorporates many of the key recommendations of small business groups, particularly in the travel and tourism sector, that expressed the most concerns about WHTI. _______________________________ TWIC Reforms Included in the SAFE Ports Conference Report On Friday, October 13, the President signed into law the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act (HR 4954). Included in this legislation were provisions (Section 104) to mitigate the most serious concerns raised by small businesses in the transportation sector regarding the Maritime Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). Last September, the House Small Business Committee held an oversight hearing on the proposed DHS TWIC rule and sent a follow-up letter to the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security regarding the potential negative effects on small business of requiring truckers delivering goods to ports and other workers in the maritime industry to obtain TWIC cards and machines to read these cards (see SBC Notes 109-56). Chairman Donald Manzullo is grateful that the conferees responded positively to the concerns raised by the small business community. Specifically, Section 104: · Requires concurrent processing of applications for merchant mariners’ documents and TWIC cards. · Requires that the fees charged for TWIC card background checks to individuals with an existing hazardous materials endorsement or merchant mariners’ document do not include the costs of a background check for those individuals, unless the background check is different from what they already have. · Requires the Secretary to establish a port priority based on risk, and implement the TWIC program according to the following schedule: · For the top ten priority ports by July 1, 2007. · For the next 40 priority ports by January 1, 2008 · For all other ports by January 1, 2009. · Requires the Secretary to issue or deny TWIC applications by January 1, 2009, for individuals who hold current and valid merchant mariners’ documents. · Requires the Secretary to begin, within six months of enactment, a pilot program for TWIC card readers to last no more than two years. The pilot program shall assess process, technological, and operational impacts of the deployment of card readers in varying geographical locations and shall assess card readers under extreme weather conditions of the marine environment. Requires periodic progress reports to Congress and any card reader rules issued after the study must be consistent with the findings of the pilot program. · Limits the card reader requirement to vessels with more than a minimum number of crew requiring a TWIC card. The minimum number to be determined by the Secretary through a rulemaking after completion of the pilot program and to be consistent with the findings of the pilot program. · The Secretary may require a reader with less than minimum crew if he finds the vessel to be at risk of a severe transportation security incident. · The TWIC regulations – less the card reader requirement – are to be promulgated by January 1, 2007 and implemented according to the above schedule. · The regulations shall include a background check process to enable newly hired workers to begin working unless the Secretary makes an initial determination that the individual poses a security risk. The Secretary shall include a check against the terrorist watch list in making the initial determination. · The Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shall conduct a study of redundant background checks within DHS to identify redundancies and inefficiencies and make recommendations to eliminate the redundancies and inefficiencies. · The disqualification of individuals from receiving a TWIC based on a criminal conviction is limited to treason, espionage, sedition or crimes listed in chapter 113B of Title 18 of the U.S. Code (this chapter deals with crimes related to terrorism) or a comparable state law or conspiracy to commit any of the above. For more information, please contact Chris Szymanski, Professional Staff. _______________________________ Update on Defense Authorization Conference Report On Saturday September 30, Congress sent to the President’s desk the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122/S. 2766). The final version did not include two Senate provisions that were opposed by House Small Business Committee Chairman Donald Manzullo – Section 874 that would funnel funding from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to pay for an expanded mentor-protégé program at the Pentagon and Section 1093 that would abolish the Competitiveness Demonstration (Comp Demo) program. Last July, Chairman Manzullo co-signed letters on these topics to the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Duncan Hunter, expressing opposition to these Senate provisions (see SBC Notes 109-50 and SBC Notes 109-52). Chairman Manzullo is pleased that the conferees to the FY ‘07 Defense Authorization bill agreed with his position and removed these provisions from the final conference report that was sent to the President’s desk for signature. For more information, please contact Nelson Crowther, General Counsel. _______________________________ SBA and OFPP Call on Federal Agencies to Check Accuracy of Small Business Procurement Data On Tuesday, September 26, the administrators of the SBA, Steve Preston, and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Paul Denett, sent a memorandum to all department heads of federal agencies calling upon them to check the accuracy of data on small business contracts submitted to the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). Questions as to whether small business contracts and related contract actions “were actually awarded to contractors that were not small” prompted the request that federal agencies take steps to reconcile apparent data inaccuracies and reporting discrepancies. Each year, the SBA reports on the extent of prime contracts awarded to small business through FPDS but the statistics are only as good as the information that is fed into the system by individual federal departments and agencies. The memo reminds that each federal department and agency is responsible for submitting accurate data to FPDS and verifying the accuracy of that data. The memo concludes with a request that acquisition officers respond by November 20, 2006. For more information, please contact Nelson Crowther, General Counsel. _______________________________ Letter to Los Alamos National Laboratory On Friday, September 29, House Small Business Committee Chairman Donald Manzullo (R-IL) joined with ranking minority Member Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Representative Tom Udall (D-NM), who also serves on the Small Business Committee, in co-signing a letter to the Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Michael Anastasio, regarding the contracting policy of LANL. On Wednesday, September 27, LANL announced its intention to cut the contractor force by 400 to 600 people. The signatories to the House Small Business Committee letter want to know how this cut in the contractor workforce would affect the local small business community. In August 2001, the Small Business Committee held a field hearing in New Mexico to specifically examine how the Department of Energy’s laboratories in New Mexico could contract more with local small businesses. After the hearing, several commitments were made to increase small business participation in federal contracts designed to support work at Los Alamos and Sandia Labs. The letter co-signers want to know how the September 27th announcement affects the 2001 commitments made by LANL to the Committee. The letter concludes with a request for response by October 30, 2006. For more information, please contact Nelson Crowther, General Counsel. _______________________________ Improvements to Business.gov Web Site On Thursday, October 12, 2006, the SBA re-launched the federal government’s web site, Business.gov, to make it easier for small businesses to find information on taxes, immigration laws, workplace safety, environmental requirements, and other regulations. “The Business Gateway Initiative through Business.gov is an important part of the President’s vision of helping American businesses by providing a one-stop portal for federal resources,” said Office of Management and Budget (OMB) E-Gov Administrator Karen Evans. “Business.gov is the official business link to the U.S. Government and is a continuation of agencies working together to improve services to citizens and businesses through technology.” “The end goal of Business.gov is to cut through the red tape and make it easier for businesses to do business,” said SBA Administrator Steven Preston. “This Web site will help streamline access to information and reduce federal compliance barriers to helping businesses save time and money.” Business.gov will direct businesses to the best sources, reduce compliance barriers, and help avoid costly mistakes, allowing them to continue to contribute to the American economy and their communities. Business.gov is managed by the SBA in a partnership with 21 other federal agencies and is part of the President’s Management Agenda. Originally launched in 2004, Business.gov initially provided information on starting, growing and managing a small business. The new compliance focus is designed to better meet the needs of the business community. Chairman Manzullo is pleased to see continued progress in this area because it was one of his long-standing goals when becoming Chairman of the House Small Business Committee in 2001 to have the federal government develop a one-stop web-based portal for small businesses to obtain information about how to comply with various regulations. _______________________________ Small Business Accomplishments for 109th Congress Attached please find a list of small business accomplishments over the past two years.
_______________________________ Upcoming Events The House is currently in recess and will resume session post-election on Monday, November 13, 2006. No official committee activities are scheduled. The next edition of SBC Notes is planned to be released on Friday, November 17th. Election Day – Tuesday, November 7th _________________________________ Past hearings/mark-ups/roundtables/meetings in 2006 February 1, 2006 – Joint Tax, Finance & Exports (TF&E) and Rural Enterprises, Agriculture & Technology (REA&T) Subcommittee hearing on “Transforming the Tax Code: An Examination of the President’s Tax Reform Panel Recommendations.” February 8, 2006 – Regulatory Reform & Oversight (RR&O) Subcommittee hearing on “The Internet Sales Tax: Headaches Ahead for Small Business?” March 2, 2006 – Workforce Empowerment & Government Programs (WE&GP) Subcommittee hearing on the “Oversight of the Small Business Administration’s Entrepreneurial Development Programs.” March 8, 2006 – TF&E Subcommittee hearing on the “Oversight of the Small Business Administration’s Finance Programs.” March 15, 2006 – REA&T Subcommittee hearing entitled, “The Missouri River and its Spring Rise: Science or Science Fiction?” March 15, 2006 – hearing on the Fiscal Year 2007 Budget and Reauthorization Proposals of the SBA. March 16, 2006 – RR&O Subcommittee hearing entitled, “The State of Small Business Security in a Cyber Economy.” March 30, 2006 – RR&O Subcommittee hearing on the “Procurement Assistance Programs of the SBA.” April 5, 2006 – hearing on “IRS Latest Enforcement: Is the Bulls-Eye on Small Businesses?” April 6, 2006 – RR&O Subcommittee hearing entitled “Can Small Healthcare Groups Feasibly Adopt Electronic Medical Records Technology?” April 26, 2006 – hearing on “Cutting Our Trade Deficit: Can the U.S. Muster Its Diverse Trade Promotion Operations to Make an Impact?” April 27, 2006 – WE&GP Subcommittee hearing on “Healthcare and Small Business: Proposals that will Help Lower Costs and Cover the Uninsured.” May 3, 2006 – REA&T Subcommittee hearing on “The Future of Rural Telecommunications: Is Universal Service Reform Needed?” May 3, 2006 – hearing on “What is the Proper Balance between Investor Protection and Capital Formation for Smaller Public Companies?” May 10, 2006 – hearing on “Bridging the Equity Gap: Examining the Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Act of 2006.” May 23, 2006 – RR&O Subcommittee hearing on “Data Protection and the Consumer: Who Loses When Your Data Takes a Hike?” May 25, 2006 – REA&T Subcommittee hearing on “Unlocking Charitable Giving.” June 7, 2006 – hearing on “Contracting the Internet: Does ICANN Create a Barrier to Small Business? June 21, 2006 – Joint hearing with the Government Reform Committee on “Northern Lights and Procurement Plights: The Effect of the ANC Program on Federal Procurement and Alaska Native Corporations.” June 27, 2006 – RR&O Subcommittee hearing on “S Corporations: Their History and Challenges.” June 27, 2006 – WE&GP Subcommittee hearing on “Immigrant Employer Verification and Small Business.” June 28, 2006 – TF&E Subcommittee hearing on “The Effects of the High Cost of Natural Gas on Small Businesses and Future Energy Technologies.” July 13, 2006 – RR&O Subcommittee hearing on “An Update on Administration Action to Reduce Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens on America’s Small Manufacturers.” July 20, 2006 – Joint REA&T and TF&E Subcommittee hearing on “Does China Enact Barriers to Fair Trade?” July 25, 2006 – hearing on “Failure to Comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act: IRS Endangering Small Businesses Yet Again.” August 10, 2006 – WE&GP Subcommittee field hearing in Loveland, CO on “Health Care and Small Business – Real Options for Colorado Businesses.” September 27, 2006 – hearing on “Advancing Security and Commerce at Our Nation’s Ports: The Goals are not Mutually Exclusive.” _____________________________ Small Business Website Check out the Small Business Committee website at http://www.house.gov/smbiz. The site includes regular updates on small business committee news. The site features special projects, press releases, hearings and scheduling information. _______________________________ Phil Eskeland Deputy Chief of Staff & Policy Director House Committee on Small Business Phil.Eskeland@mail.house.gov (202) 225-5821 To contact any staff member listed in the above newsletter, please use the general number for the House Small Business Committee – (202) 225-5821. Please E-mail me if you want to be removed from the mailing list or if you know of others who might be interested in receiving this publication. Mission Statement of the House Committee on Small Business "We promote the success of America’s small businesses by leveling the global economic playing field and reducing domestic burdens that impede their growth. In this spirit, we work to ensure that every branch of the U.S. government understands the critical role America’s small businesses play – both at home and abroad – including the jobs they create and the spirit of entrepreneurship they embody.”
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