Policy News – April 22, 2021

The Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021 was introduced this morning to expand and make permanent the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), initially created by Executive Order in 1969. Led by Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Senate Committee on Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the bill would place MBDA regional offices in more communities, increase the agency’s grant making capacity, and create a Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development. US. Black Chambers, Inc. President & CEO, Ron Busby, and Association for Enterprise Opportunity President & CEO, Connie Evans, issued the following statements: 

  • “The U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC) proudly supports the Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021,” said USBC President & CEO Ron Busby. “This significant piece of legislation would provide long-term, intentional support to the sole-agency responsible for assisting the development of minority-owned enterprises, the Minority Business Development Agency at the Department of Commerce. As Black Business owners begin to navigate a post-pandemic economy, we will require deliberate and wide-reaching legislative solutions that will assist with the creation and growth of economic opportunities in our communities. On behalf of the nation’s 2.6 million Black businesses, USBC endorses this essential legislation, as it provides opportune support to the most vulnerable businesses, Black-owned businesses.”
  • “The Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) applauds lawmakers on the introduction of the Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021. This bill ensures that Main Street America’s smallest and overlooked businesses, minority-owned businesses, receive support by the way of the Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA),” said AEO President & CEO Connie Evans. “As the leading champion for microbusinesses, this legislation provides needed resources to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, expands technical assistance support, and ensures that our nation’s smallest minority-owned firms have the assistance to expand in the coming years, among others. As we work to deliver capital and services to assist underserved entrepreneurs in starting, stabilizing and expanding their businesses, we are pleased to endorse the Minority Business Resiliency Act of 2021.”

In response to President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package, a group of GOP Senators is working on proposing a slimmed-down version, which is likely to come in between $600 and $800 billion. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is helping spearhead the counterproposal, expressed that the legislation would be released “hopefully by the end of the week.” The Senate GOP is expected to vote on whether to reinstate earmarks today. This vote follows a letter signed by fifteen Senate Republicans earlier this week, pledging to maintain the decade-long ban on earmarks. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced a new list of key staff appointments. To view the press release, click here. The U.S. Department of Labor has opened national dialogue through April 30th to improve outreach to teens on workplace issues of safety, wages, job training, discrimination. If interested in participating in this virtual discussion, click here. On Tuesday, Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday on all counts of the death of George Floyd. Among other agencies, the Department of Labor issued a statement on the verdict.

Happening on the Hill

The House

The House Committee on Financial Services will hold a virtual hearing  on Examining the Role of Municipal Bond Markets in Advancing – and Undermining – Economic, Racial and Social Justice on Wednesday, April 28 at 12:00 PM.  

The House Committee on Financial Services will hold a virtual hearing on Closing the Racial and Gender Wealth Gap Through Compensation Equity on Thursday,  April 29 at 12:00 PM.

The Senate

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will hold a virtual hearing on 21st Century Communities: Capitalizing on Opportunities in the Clean Energy Economy on Thursday, April 22 at 10:00 AM. 

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold a virtual hearing on Supporting Children, Workers and Families by Strengthening America’s Child Care Sector on Tuesday, April 27  at 10:00 AM.

The Senate Committee on Finance will hold a virtual hearing on Creating Opportunity Through a Fairer Tax System on Tuesday, April 27 at 2:30 PM.

Bills of Interest

  • Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-7)introduced a bill to ensure that certain loan programs of the Small Business Administration are made available to cannabis-related legitimate businesses and service providers, and for other purposes.
  • Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI-4) introduced a bill to provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects designed to provide education and training for eligible individuals to enter and follow a career pathway in the field of pregnancy or childbirth, under the health profession opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act.
  • Rep. James Langevin (D-RI-2)introduced a bill to establish a task force on developing a 21st century surface transportation workforce, and for other purposes.
  • Rep. James Langevin (D-RI-2)introduced a bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to designate certain consortia as Community and Technical College Centers of Excellence in Transportation Workforce Training, and for other purposes.
  • Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30) introduced a bill to provide for research to better understand the causes and consequences of sexual harassment affecting individuals in the scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics workforce and to examine policies to reduce the prevalence and negative impact of such harassment, and for other purposes.
  • Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1) introduced a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit 529 plans to be used for certain non-degree technical training certificate programs and apprenticeship programs.
  • Rep. Al Green (D-TX-9) introduced a bill to require the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce to promote and administer programs in the public and private sectors to assist the development of minority business enterprises, to ensure that such Agency has the necessary supporting resources, particularly during economic downturns, and for other purposes.
  • Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-7) introduced a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for investors in start-up businesses, to provide a credit for wages paid by start-up businesses to their first employees, and for other purposes.
  • Sen. Ron Wyden (R-OR) introduced a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for investors in start-up businesses, to provide a credit for wages paid by start-up businesses to their first employees, and for other purposes.
  • Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)introduced a bill to require the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce to promote and administer programs in the public and private sectors to assist the development of minority business enterprises, to ensure that such Agency has the necessary supporting resources, particularly during economic downturns, and for other purposes.
  • Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)introduced a bill to amend the Small Business Act to modify the maximum paycheck protection program loan amount for farmers and ranchers, sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals, and for other purposes.
  • Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a bill to modify the maximum paycheck protection program loan amount for farmers and ranchers, sole proprietors, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals.

At The Agencies

 

U.S. Department of Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor opensnational dialogue to improve outreach to teens on workplace issues of safety, wages, job training, discrimination. 

The U.S. Department of Labor released a Statement by Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh regarding the verdict in the State of Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin.

 

U.S. Department of the Treasury

The U.S. Department of the Treasury published a readout of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo’s Roundtable Discussion with Bank Policy Institute Members

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announces Key Staff Appointments.