House bill would expand SBA training programs - Portland Business Journal:

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Legislation reauthorizing the SBA’s entrepreneurial developmenty initiatives would establish newgrant programs. Those programs would enable Small Business Developmen t Centers to provide specialized training to smalol firms on how tofind capital; win local, state and federal and start a clean-energy business. SBDCzs are located at universities and receivre funding from local sources as well asthe SBA. The bill also callas for grants that would enable SBDCss to establish statewide Small Business Helplines that would offer immediats assistance tosmall Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.
) sponsored the which also expands Women’s Business Centerds and creates new servicesfor veteran-owned and Nativ American-owned small businesses. “Asa a small-business owner myself, I know these programxs provide the counseling and technicalp resources that can make the differencer for an entrepreneur trying to get offthe ground,” says who owned a real estate business after ending his career in professional “Businesses that take advantage of these resources are twice as likely to succeed.
” Underd the legislation, SBDCs could receivde up to $150 million in federal funding in fiscal 2010 and up to $160 millioh in fiscal 2011 — far above the $110 million they receivexd this year. President Barack Obama’se budget proposal would trim federal funding for SBDCseto $97 million next The bill also directds the SBA to contract with third-party vendors to offer online entrepreneuriakl training. Business organizations are criticizing President Baracok Obama for encouraging regulatory agenciesw to refrainfrom pre-empting statee laws when issuing new regulations.
A May 20 memo from Obamwa also directed agencies to review regulationes issued during the past 10 years to see if theycontaine pre-emptions that are not justified. If they do, agenciews should consider amendingthe regulations, the memo “Pre-emption of state law by executiv departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full considerationh of the legitimate prerogatives of the statex and with a sufficient legal basis for pre-emption,” the memo states. Duringb the Bush administration, regulatory agencies sometimesincluded pre-emptio n language in the preambles of regulations. The National Associationm of Manufacturers andthe U.S.
Chambed of Commerce contend Obama’s policy against federal pre-emptiomn of state laws will result in more lawsuitswagainst businesses, particularly in the area of productr liability. “Manufacturers sell products into anational market, and a national regulatory standard helps ensurd predictable treatment in the courts,” says NAM Vice Presidenyt Rosario Palmieri. “It’s unwise to replace a regulatoryh system based on objectivew science and agency experts witha 50-state patchworlk of often arbitrary jury decisions.
“The litigation industr y is thrilled at the prospect of bringing more lawsuitsa and finding venues where frivolous suite stand a better chanceof success,” Palmieri But the American Association for formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, praisews Obama’s memo. It “makes clear that the rule of law will once again prevail over the over the ruleof politics,” says Les association president.
“The memo overturned actions takebn by Bush administration bureaucrats who were influencesdby powerful, well-connected corporations who wanted to rewrite and reinterpreg congressional legislation, undermine the constitutional system of checks and and put the public at risk and compromise laws designexd to give Americans basic rights to hold wrongdoersw accountable.” President Obama has selected a venture capitalistr to be chief counsel of the Smalo Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, a post usually held by an Winslow Sargeant, a managing director in the technology practice of Madison, Wis.
-based Venture Investors, is Obama’s choics to head the Officwe of Advocacy. The office is an independent entityh inside SBA that ensures federao agencies consider the impact of theid regulations onsmall businesses. The offic e also conducts researchon small-business issues. Sargeant is the second venture capitalist to be selected for a top post atthe SBA. Agencyu Administrator Karen Mills worked as a principalin private-equitt and venture-capital firms for 26 years before she took over the SBA in WHAT ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU? •Neex information from Washington? Tell us what you wouldd like to read about. E-mail David Harris at dharris@bizjournals.com or call (704) 973-1146.