The Small Business Watchdog

On Friday, January 25, Jordan Barab, the U.S. Department of Labor’s deputy assistant secretary for occupational safety and health, participated in the Office of Advocacy’s regular small business roundtable on labor safety and health issues. Mr. Barab focused his remarks on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) regulatory agenda for the coming year and [...]

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In December, Region VII Advocate Becky Greenwald was a special guest speaker at the Women in Business Small Business Conference and Expo. The event was sponsored by the Nebraska Business Development Center/Procurement Technical Assistance Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Hosting the event was Nebraska Congressman Lee Terry, who recognized 12 women business [...]

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The Office of Advocacy applauds yesterday’s decision by the Internal Revenue Service to offer a simplified version of the home office deduction. Advocacy has been engaged with the small business community and the IRS on this issue for decades, including a formal request to the White House in 2009. The new option allows a deduction of [...]

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The deadline for submitting proposals for small business research for the Office of Advocacy has been extended to February 8. The original announcement with the revised deadline follows.
The Office of Advocacy examines the role of small business in the economy and publishes research on a wide range of topics each year. These studies educate policymakers [...]

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On December 28, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations that that provide guidance on large employers’ shared responsibility for employee health insurance coverage under Internal Revenue Code section 4980H.  The proposed regulations provide definitions and rules for determining status as an applicable large employer and applicable large employer member, for determining full-time employees, [...]

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In 2012, the Office of Advocacy provided input to numerous federal agencies on key regulatory proposals that have a disproportionate impact on small businesses. The Patent and Trademark Office’s overhaul of the U.S. patenting system is one of these critical areas. All comment letters and fact sheets summarizing them are available on Advocacy’s website.
The U.S. [...]

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In 2012, Advocacy commented on three key revisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA or Regulation X) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA or Reg Z):
• The integrated mortgage disclosure statement (comments filed November 6)
• Mortgage servicing rules for ARMs (October 5), and
• Loan originator compensation (October 16).
 
Mortgage Disclosure Statements. This major [...]

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