Today In Washington – May 7, 2018

Today In Washington
May 7, 2018
Source: Jennifer White – Director, Government Relations

Congress is back from a week-long recess.

House will Vote on Nine Small Business Bills Tomorrow – The full House will vote on nine small business bills under suspension of the rules— a procedure used to quickly pass non-controversial bills.

1) SMALL BUSINESS CYBER TRAINING: H.R. 3170 – The Small Business Administration would offer cybersecurity and related planning assistance. The bill would require the SBA to train Small Business Development Center employees in counseling small businesses on cybersecurity questions.
The House Small Business Committee approved the measure by voice vote on March 14.

2) SMALL BUSINESS CYBERSECURITY INFO: H.R. 4668 – A central unit and regional cybersecurity assistance units would be created to encourage small businesses to share cyberthreat information with the federal government. Small businesses would also be provided liability protections under the 2015 Cyberthreat Information Sharing Act. The House Small Business Committee amended and approved the bill by voice vote on March 14.

3) FEDERAL CONTRACT CHANGE ORDERS: H.R. 4754 – Small business contractors and subcontractors seeking bids for federal construction projects would receive improved information from agencies including performance data and policies on change orders.

4) SMALL BUSINESS SCORE PROGRAM: H.R. 1700 – The SBA’s SCORE program would be reauthorized and directed to develop oversight measures. The bill would authorize $10.5 million for both FY2019 and FY2020.

5) WOMEN’S BUSINESS OFFICE: H.R. 1680 – The Office of Women’s Business Ownership’s responsibilities would be modified and it would be authorized to make larger grants to women’s business centers.

6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS: H.R. 1702 – The SBA’s Small Business Development Center grant program would be modified and given new reporting requirements.

7) SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT COMPANIES: H.R. 4111 – The creation of new Small Business Investment Companies in underserved states would be promoted under this bill.

8) EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP OF COMPANIES: H.R. 5236 – Employee cooperatives would become eligible for loans backed by the Small Business Administration. The bill would also allow loans to be made to a small business to facilitate employees’ purchase of the firm. The measure also would require additional agency outreach to promote employee purchase of companies.
The House Small Business Committee approved the measure by voice vote on March 14.

9) SMALL BUSINESS LENDING OVERSIGHT: H.R. 4743 – The Small Business Administration’s Office of Credit Risk Management would be codified and given new oversight responsibilities for the 7(a) program. The House Small Business Committee approved the bill by voice vote on March 14.

Appropriations Work Continues in House—House appropriators continue their work on the 12 spending bills Congress tries to pass each year. The full Appropriations Committee is set tomorrow to start with the least controversial ones, including funding military construction, veterans’ programs and congressional operations. The Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee plans to mark up its relatively non-controversial measure tonight.

White House Wants to Take Back Appropriated Spending—White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney is getting ready to ask Congress to cancel $11 billion in previously appropriated spending. The formal request for a recission is much less than $63 billion the Trump administration proposed last month. The request also does not tamper with the $1.3 billion FY 2018 spending bill that Trump reluctantly signed in March. House Appropriations Committee member Tom Cole (R-OK), who has been working with Mulvaney on the spending cut attempt, said he had been told to expect two or three rescission requests over the coming months. Once the first request is made, Congress will have 45 session days to consider it. During that time, the spending in those accounts is frozen. A recission request can’t be blocked by the minority party in the Senate, meaning it could pass with just 50 Republican votes, without any Democratic support.

Hearings:
• May 8 @ 11 AM: House Small Business Committee, Subcommittee Travel and Tourism: A Small Business Angle, 2360 Rayburn House Office Building
• May 9 @ 10 AM: House Committee on Armed Services Markup: H.R. 5515 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, 2118 Rayburn House Office Building.
• May 9 @ 11 AM: House Small Business Committee, Ready, Willing, and Able to Work: How Small Businesses Empower People with Developmental Disabilities, 2360 Rayburn.