Small Business Gets a Wave of Reg Changes.

• Author: Stone, Ben
• Position: Brief Article

During the first quarter of 2001 in the nation's capital, the small business community has witnessed an array of legislative and regulatory developments. The welfare of small business and its role in the economy is clearly a priority for the new administration. President Bush acknowledged recently that 75 percent of new jobs are created by small businesses. Here's a look at the action thus far.

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., has sponsored H.R. 327--the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act--designed to ease federal paper work requirements on small businesses. The bill would require:

* The director of the Office of Management and Budget to publish a complete list of federal requirements relating to the collection of information by small businesses.

* Establishment of a task force to study further streamlining of such requirements.

* All federal agencies to take additional steps to reduce the required paperwork for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees.

* All federal agencies to establish one point of contact for all small-business matters.

Status: This bill passed the House without opposition and awaits action in the Senate. Sen. John E Kerry, D-Mass., has pro posed S. 174, the Microloan Program Improvement Act of 2001. The Microloan Program, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), is intended to provide venture capital to start-up small businesses. The program currently administers its loans through certified intermediaries. The proposed legislation would ease eligibility standards for intermediaries and strike the requirement that Microloans be short-term.

Kerry also has sponsored S. 295, the Small Business Energy Emergency Relief Act of 2001, which would provide SBA disAster loans for small businesses hit by high natural gas prices. Under the legislation, a firm that has suffered substantial economic loss or expects to do so, because of volatile natural gas prices, would be eligible for loans up to $1.5 million dollars. Such loans would be guaranteed at a 4 percent interest rate and would apply only if state and local loans are not available.

Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., has introduced S. 395, the Independent Office of Advocacy Act of 2001. The Bond bill would require that the SBA's Office of Advocacy be given its own line-item budget. The bill would require the Office of Advocacy to evaluate and report on:

* Regulations and issues affecting small business, as well as suggestions for appropriate corrective action.

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