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LATEST NEWS

RECENT EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

  • The California Air Resources Board approved historic clean car standards on Jan. 27 that will boost fuel efficiency and cut costs for small businesses in the state.
  • On Jan. 26, Small Business Majority hosted a Business Leader Briefing call with Alan Krueger, Chief Economist to the President, and Jonathan Swain, SBA Chief of Staff. They spoke to small business owners about how President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address impacts them.
  • On Jan. 26, Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance and the American Sustainable Business Council released the results of a national poll that discerned small business owners' opinions on credit availability and jobs proposals being debated in Congress.
  • On Jan. 26, California Outreach Director David Chase testified in Los Angeles to support proposed national fuel standards. A California business owner in our network also testified in favor, as the new rules would cut costs for small business.
  • Clean Energy Business Advisor Celia Canfield testified Jan. 24 in San Francisco, along with a Bay Area small business owner in our network, to support fuel standards proposed by the Obama Administration.
  • On Jan. 19 in Philadelphia, Network Coordinator Erica Dowell and a Pennsylvania small business owner in our network testified to support improved fuel standards that would cut costs for small business.
  • National Outreach Director Rhett Buttle testified Jan. 17 in Detroit to support fuel standards proposed by the Obama Administration. A Michigan small business owner in our network also testified in favor of the standards.
  • On Jan. 18, Small Business Majority, American Sustainable Business Council and Main Street Alliance released opinion polling on small businesses' view of the role money plays in politics.
  • New York State Health Foundation released a report in January that highlights the healthcare reform benefits many New York entrepreneurs are already seeing, including owners in Small Business Majority's network (pp 8-10 of report).
  • Ben Geyerhahn joined lawmakers at HealthPass New York's City & State forum on Dec. 16 to urge Governor Cuomo to include health insurance exchange plans in his budget proposal.
  • On Dec. 15, Congress approved a six-year reauthorization of the Small Business Research Innovation (SBIR) program, strengthening small businesses' capacity to innovate and hire.
  • Pepperdine's Private Capital Markets Project, released Dec. 14, found that 36% of business owners see access to capital as the policy most likely to lead to job growth in 2012.
  • Ben Geyerhahn, Director of Special Projects, attended a roundtable discussion on Dec. 12 focusing on New York's long term liabilities in the healthcare arena. The event was presented by The Fund for Public Advocacy, in partnership with the NYU Wagner School of Public Service.
  • Small Business Majority sent a letter to all senators on Dec. 7 urging them to enact employee and employer payroll tax cuts, as well as a payroll tax holiday.
  • On Dec. 5, the Department of Labor announced proposed rules in the Affordable Care Act that will help lower small businesses' health insurance costs. Read more.
  • On Dec. 2, Small Business Majority sent a letter to California Gov. Jerry Brown encouraging swift organization of a meeting to discuss solutions to small business owners' access to capital problems. Read the letter here.
  • Small Business Majority and a number of other business groups sent senators a letter on Dec. 1 urging them to pass payroll tax cuts introduced in the American Jobs Act. Read the letter.
  • CEO John Arensmeyer submitted comments to the House Subcommittee on Oversight on Ways and Means in regards to its Nov. 15 hearing on the small business tax credits in the Affordable Care Act. Read John's testimony here.
  • CEO John Arensmeyer testified in front of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Nov. 3, 2011, on policies that promote small business growth and job creation. Read his testimony.
  • Small Business Majority sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Nov. 1 voicing concerns over Express Scripts proposed acquisition of Medco Health Solutions. The merger would reduce competition in the pharmacy benefit manager market, in turn hindering job growth and causing healthcare costs for small businesses to rise.
  • The Association for Enterprise Opportunity had its inaugural meeting of its Enterprise Economic Impact Council on Oct. 25, which Small Business Majority CEO John Arensmeyer is a member of.
  • A new survey released October 24 by the National Small Business Association found that small business owners see access to credit as their biggest barrier to investing in clean energy and innovation. Eighty-two percent of small businesses have already taken the steps they can to reduce the amount of energy their business uses.
  • On Friday, October 21, the Urban Institute with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report that found the percentage of employers offering health coverage will remain intact once health insurance exchanges are in place in 2014.
  • The White House's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness recently launched a new website to help people stay up to date on the council's activities, which includes researching long-term ways of stimulating job growth through small business and other investments.