MEMORANDUM TO JEANNETTE BROWN, CHAIR OSDBU COUNCIL

DATE: May 18, 2006

FROM: Arthuretta H. Martin, Legislative Working Group

SUBJECT: May Legislative Report

The following is a summary of proposed legislation before congress affecting small businesses doing business with the Federal Government in the 109^th Congress.

S.2608
Title: A bill to ensure full partnership of small contractors in Federal disaster reconstruction efforts.
Sponsor: Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] (introduced 4/7/2006) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 4/7/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

S.2607
Title: A bill to establish a 4-year small business health insurance information pilot program.
Sponsor: Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] (introduced 4/7/2006) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 4/7/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

H.R.5352
Title: To reauthorize programs to assist small business concerns, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Manzullo, Donald A. [IL-16] (introduced 5/11/2006) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 5/11/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.

S.2594
Title: A bill to amend the Small Business Act to reauthorize the loan guarantee program under section 7(a) of that Act, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 4/6/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

H.R.3082
Title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that 9 percent of procurement contracts entered into by the Department of Veterans Affairs be awarded to small business concerns owned by veterans, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Boozman, John [AR-3] (introduced 6/28/2005) Cosponsors (11)
Latest Major Action: 5/10/2006 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.

H.R.5198
Title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against income tax for qualified equity investments in certain small businesses.
Sponsor: Rep Manzullo, Donald A. [IL-16] (introduced 4/26/2006) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 4/26/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

H.R.5242
Title: To amend title 44 of the United States Code, to provide for the suspension of fines under certain circumstances for first-time paperwork violations by small business concerns.
Sponsor: Rep Neugebauer, Randy [TX-19] (introduced 4/27/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Related Bills: S.2656
Latest Major Action: 4/27/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

S.2396
Title: A bill to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish a pilot program to make grants to eligible entities for the development of peer learning opportunities for second-stage small business concerns.
Sponsor: Sen Santorum, Rick [PA] (introduced 3/9/2006) Cosponsors (1)
Related Bills: H.R.3207
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

S.2586
Title: A bill to establish a 2-year pilot program to develop a curriculum at historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges, and Hispanic serving institutions to foster entrepreneurship and business development in underserved minority communities.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/6/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

H.R.5068
Title: To reauthorize the operations of the Export-Import Bank, and to reform certain operations of the Bank, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Pryce, Deborah [OH-15] (introduced 3/30/2006) Cosponsors (6)
Latest Major Action: 3/30/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

SUMMARY AS OF:
3/30/2006--Introduced.

Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act of 2006 - Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States through FY2011.

Requires the President of the Bank to establish and maintain a Small Business Division and a Small Business Committee.

Establishes within the Division an office for financing of exports by socially and economically disadvantaged small business concerns and small business concerns owned by women.

Extends through FY2011 the Advisory Committee established to assist in the development and implementation of policies and programs designed to support the expansion of the Bank's financial commitments in sub-Saharan Africa under its loan, guarantee, and insurance programs.

Specifies requirements for the Bank's: (1) improved liaison with African regional financial institutions; (2) closer cooperation with other U.S. agencies working in Africa; (3) adjustments in procedures to promote qualification of African entities for participation in Bank programs; and (4) development of procedures allowing it to finance certain African programs in local currencies.

Extends through FY2011 Bank authority to provide financing for the export of nonlethal defense articles or services whose primary end use will be for civilian purposes.

Prescribes requirements for Bank transparency initiatives and revises specified reporting requirements, especially for the annual competitiveness report.

Requires at least two members of the Advisory Committee to represent the environmental nongovernmental organization (NGO) community (although no two from the same organization). Requires the environmental organizations represented to have demonstrated experience with environmental issues associated with the Bank, the Export Credit Group of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or both.

S.2482
Title: A bill to authorize funding for State-administered bridge loan programs, to increase the access of small businesses to export assistance center services in areas in which the President declared a major disaster as a result of Hurricane Katrina of 2005, Hurricane Rita of 2005, or Hurricane Wilma of 2005, to authorize additional disaster loans, to require reporting regarding the administration of the disaster loan programs, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [LA] (introduced 3/30/2006) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 3/30/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

H.R.5163
Title: To direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to conduct a pilot program to raise awareness about telework among small business employers, and to encourage such employers to offer telework options to employees, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Udall, Mark [CO-2] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/19/2006 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.

S.2646
Title: A bill to create a 3-year pilot program that makes small, nonprofit child care businesses eligible for loans under title V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 4/25/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Related Bills: H.R.167
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

S.2595
Title: A bill to amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to modernize the treatment of development companies.
Sponsor: Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 4/6/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

H.R.5334
Title: To provide for low-interest disaster loans when a small business concern is affected by a small-scale disaster.
Sponsor: Rep Sweeney, John E. [NY-20] (introduced 5/9/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/9/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.

H.R.4684
Title: To amend the Small Business Act to provide for an increase in the amount of awards under the first and second phases of the Small Business Innovation Research program.
Sponsor: Rep Cramer, Robert E. (Bud), Jr. [AL-5] (introduced 2/1/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 2/6/2006 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards.

S.2457
Title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide incentives for supplying health insurance to employees of small employers, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] (introduced 3/27/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 3/27/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

H.R.5058
Title: To provide support for small business concerns, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1] (introduced 3/30/2006) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 4/19/2006 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards.

S.1955
Title: A bill to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to expand health care access and reduce costs through the creation of small business health plans and through modernization of the health insurance marketplace.
Sponsor: Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY] (introduced 11/2/2005) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 5/11/2006 Senate floor actions. Status: Cloture on the modified committee substitute not invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 55 - 43. Record Vote Number: 119.

H.R.5196
Title: To amend the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to establish the Office of Trade Promotion in the Executive Office of the President, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Manzullo, Donald A. [IL-16] (introduced 4/26/2006) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 4/26/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

H.R.4745
Title: Making supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2006 for the Small Business Administration's disaster loans program, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Lewis, Jerry [CA-41] (introduced 2/14/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-174 [GPO: Text, PDF]

H.R.5288
Title: To establish a small business health benefits program.
Sponsor: Rep Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1] (introduced 5/4/2006) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 5/4/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

H.R.4197
Title: To provide for the recovery, reclamation, restoration and reconstruction of lives and communities and for the reunion of families devastated by Hurricane Katrina and to address the issues of poverty exposed by Hurricane Katrina.
Sponsor: Rep Watt, Melvin L. [NC-12] (introduced 11/2/2005) Cosponsors (86)
Latest Major Action: 3/27/2006 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Education Reform.

SUMMARY AS OF:
11/2/2005--Introduced.

Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation. Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005 - Hurricane Katrina Victim Restoration Fund of 2005 - Provides for the determination of eligibility for compensation for any individual (or relatives of a deceased individual) who sustained economic or noneconomic losses as a result of Hurricane Katrina so that the individual (or relatives) are restored as nearly as possible to their condition before Hurricane Katrina.

Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a Comprehensive Environmental Sampling and Toxicity Assessment Plan.

Provides for federal and state government to notify hurricane survivors of health risks they may face upon returning to their domiciles.

Provides for the offer of alternative land and/or housing as compensation to residents whose homes or businesses have been destroyed or terminally compromised.

Revises the TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005 to provide for reimbursement of states for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits provided under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to families from other states affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Sets forth requirements relating to emergency extended unemployment compensation.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program of emergency health coverage continuation relief.

Sets forth housing and education requirements.

Displaced Citizens Voter Protection Provisions of 2005 - Prescribes requirements for the protection of voting rights of Katrina evacuees.

Prescribes requirements for: (1) regulatory relief for financial services; and (2) disaster loans and small business relief.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for: (1) a tax credit for an eligible homebuyer who purchases a principal residence in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area; (2) an increase in the housing credit dollar amount; and (3) tax-exempt bonds for qualified Gulf Coast recovery projects.

Hurricane Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the federal bankruptcy code to exempt victims of natural disasters, including small businesses, from certain requirements for debtors seeking relief.

Directs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a temporary flood insurance buy-in program.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should present, within six months, a plan to eradicate poverty in the United States by 2015.

S.2390
Title: A bill to provide a national innovation initiative.
Sponsor: Sen Ensign, John [NV] (introduced 3/8/2006) Cosponsors (15)
Related Bills: H.R.4654
Latest Major Action: 3/8/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

SUMMARY AS OF:
3/8/2006--Introduced.

National Innovation Act--Commerce Provisions - Directs the President to establish the: (1) President's Council on Innovation; and (2) Innovation Acceleration Grants Program to support and promote innovation in the United States.

Requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to: (1) submit a multiyear plan that describes how the funds authorized by this Act for doubling research funding shall be used; (2) study how the federal government should support the new discipline of service science; (3) expand the Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program; (4) establish a clearinghouse for sharing program elements used in successful professional science master's degree programs; (5) award grants for pilot programs to four-year institutions of higher education to facilitate the creation or improvement of such programs; and (6) award grants to local educational agencies to enable implementation of innovation-based experiential learning.

Requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy to submit recommendations for an increase in funding for research and development in physical sciences and engineering.

Requires the Department of Commerce to: (1) review federal programs that support local economic development and implement a strategy to fund initiatives that improve the ability of communities to participate successfully in the modern economy through innovation; (2) promote economic development opportunities for serving local communities as specified; and (3) coordinate activities focused on promoting innovation through development of regional innovation hot spots.

Requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support research and development for advanced manufacturing systems designed to increase productivity and efficiency and to create competitive advantages for U.S. businesses.

Requires the Director of the NSF to conduct a study regarding how the federal government should support, through research, education, and training, the new discipline of service science.

H.R.4733
Title: To establish the Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] (introduced 2/8/2006) Cosponsors (10)
Latest Major Action: 2/8/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

SUMMARY AS OF:
2/8/2006--Introduced.

Stand Up for America Act of 2006 - Establishes in the legislative branch an Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer to ensure compliance by U.S. trading partners with international trade agreements to which the United States is a party.

Establishes the Office of Market Access Assistance within such Office to provide technical and legal assistance and advice to eligible small businesses enabling them to prepare and file petitions (other than those that are frivolous) under the Trade Act of 1974.

Amends the Act to extend indefinitely (currently, 1995 only) the Congressional Trade Enforcer's (currently, U.S. Trade Representative's) mandate to identify and report on trade expansion priorities.

Requires the report to identify priority foreign country practices of currency manipulation.

Requires the Trade Representative, before initiating an investigation (as under current law), to seek consultations with each foreign country identified in the report as engaging in priority foreign country practices, for the purpose of reaching a satisfactory resolution of such priority practices. Requires initiation of an investigation only if a satisfactory resolution of such practices has not been reached.

Requires the Congressional Trade Enforcer: (1) to identify and report to Congress on priority foreign trade practices of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Russian Federation, and the European Union; and (2) as part of the report's analysis, to consider violations by the PRC and the Russian Federation of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules regarding the protection of intellectual property rights, violations by the PRC of WTO rules regarding the manipulation of currency, and violations by the European Union of WTO rules regarding discriminatory regional trade agreements.

H.R.4985
Title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify the employment tax treatment and reporting of wages paid by professional employer organizations.
Sponsor: Rep Brady, Kevin [TX-8] (introduced 3/16/2006) Cosponsors (11)
Latest Major Action: 3/16/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

H.CON.RES.387
Title: Encouraging minority participation in the goals of Financial Literacy Month for April, 2006.
Sponsor: Rep Millender-McDonald, Juanita [CA-37] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/6/2006 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.

H.R.2066
Title: To amend title 40, United States Code, to establish a Federal Acquisition Service, to replace the General Supply Fund and the Information Technology Fund with an Acquisition Services Fund, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Davis, Tom [VA-11] (introduced 5/4/2005) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 5/2/2006 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
House Reports: 109-91

SUMMARY AS OF:
5/23/2005--Passed House, amended. (There is 1 other summary)

General Services Administration Modernization Act - (Sec. 2) Establishes a Federal Acquisition Service in the General Services Administration (GSA). Requires the appointment of a Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service.

Directs the Commissioner, subject to the direction and control of the Administrator of GSA, to be responsible for carrying out functions related to the uses for which the Acquisition Services Fund created by this Act is authorized, including any functions that were carried out by the Federal Supply Service and the Federal Technology Service and such other related functions as the Administrator considers appropriate.

Authorizes the appointment of up to five Regional Executives in the Federal Acquisition Service.

(Sec. 3) Abolishes the General Supply Fund and the Information Technology Fund in the Treasury. Transfers remaining capital assets and balances in such Funds to the Acquisition Services Fund to be merged with and be available for the purposes of such Fund.

Requires the Acquisition Services Fund to be credited with all reimbursements, advances, and refunds or recoveries relating to personal property or services procured through the Fund, including: (1) the net proceeds of disposal of surplus personal property; and (2) receipts from carriers and others for loss of, or damage to, personal property; and (3) receipts from agencies charged fees pursuant to rates established by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to determine cost and capital requirements of the Fund and develop a plan concerning such requirements in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer of GSA. Requires any change to the cost and capital requirements to be approved by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator, according to such plan, to establish rates to be charged agencies provided, or to be provided, supply of personal property and non-personal services through the Fund.

Allows fees collected for recovering the costs of testing materials tendered for sale or lease to GSA or any procurement authority acting under GSA to be deposited in the Fund.

Provides for: (1) the use of the Fund for personal services related to the provision of information technology; and (2) the Administrator to fix prices at levels sufficient to recover the cost of personal services employed directly in providing information technology.

Sets requirements for the transfer of uncommitted balances in the Fund.

(Sec. 4) Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to direct the head of each executive agency, after consultation with the Administrator and the Director of the Office of Personal Management, to establish policies and procedures, under which the agency head may reemploy in an acquisition-related position an individual receiving an annuity from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, based on such individual's service, without discontinuing such annuity. Instructs each agency head to keep the Administrator informed of the agency's use of this authority.

Prohibits considering an individual so reemployed to be a Federal employee for the purposes of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).

Requires the policies and procedures established pursuant to the authority specified above to authorize the agency head, on a case-by-case basis, to continue an annuity if either the unusually high or unique qualifications of an individual receiving such an annuity or a special need of the agency for the services of an employee makes the reemployment of an individual essential.

Requires the Administrator to submit annual reports to specified congressional committees on the use of such authority, including the number of employees reemployed under such authority.

Terminates such authority on December 31, 2011.

Directs each executive agency head, after consultation with the Administrator, to establish policies and procedures under which the agency head may pay retention bonuses to employees holding acquisition-related positions within such agency, except that such authority to pay a bonus shall be available only if: (1) the unusually high or unique qualifications of an individual or a special need of the agency for the services of an employee makes reemployment of an individual essential; and (2) the agency determines that, in the absence of such a bonus, it is likely the employee would leave the Federal service or leave for a different position in the Federal service under conditions described in regulations of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Makes payment of such a bonus contingent upon the employee entering into a written agreement with the agency to complete a period of service with the agency in return for the bonus. Prohibits a bonus from exceeding 50 percent of the employee's basic pay and from being part of such pay of the employee. Permits a bonus to be paid to an employee: (1) in installments after completion of specified periods of service; (2) in a single lump sum at the end of the period of service required by the agreement; or (3) in any other manner mutually agreed to by the agency and the employee. Prohibits bonuses from being being paid to Presidential appointees, non-career appointees in the Senior Executive Service, and employees who hold a position which has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of its confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.

S.2361
Title: A bill to improve Federal contracting and procurement by eliminating fraud and abuse and improving competition in contracting and procurement and by enhancing administration of Federal contracting personnel, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND] (introduced 3/2/2006) Cosponsors (30)
Latest Major Action: 3/2/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

S.2277
Title: A bill to promote accountability and prevent fraud in Federal contracting.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] (introduced 2/13/2006) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 2/13/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

S.2774
Title: A bill to ensure efficiency and fairness in the awarding of Federal contracts in connection with Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita reconstruction efforts.
Sponsor: Sen Vitter, David [LA] (introduced 5/10/2006) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 5/10/2006 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

H.R.5112
Title: To provide for reform in the operations of the executive branch.
Sponsor: Rep Davis, Tom [VA-11] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (22)
Latest Major Action: 4/27/2006 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 249.
House Reports: 109-445

SUMMARY AS OF:
4/6/2006--Introduced.

Executive Branch Reform Act of 2006 - Requires recording and filing by each executive branch official with the Office of Government Ethics on any significant contact made between that official and any private party relating to an official government action. Outlines the authorities and responsibilities of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics with regard to such reports.

Sets prohibitions on covered executive branch officials who are entering or leaving government service.

Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to modify provisions relating to procurement officials. Sets a prohibition on the personal and substantial involvement by certain former contractor employees in the award or administration of government contracts.

Sets a prohibition on unauthorized expenditure of funds for publicity or propaganda purposes.

Requires an advertisement or other communication paid for by an executive agency to disclose that such advertisement or communication is paid for by that agency.

Directs each federal agency to submit to the Archivist of the United States and specified congressional committees a report describing the use of "pseudo" classification designations. Requires the Archivist to: (1) report on the use of "psuedo" classification designations; and (2) promulgate regulations banning "psuedo" classification designations. Provides for standards for information control designations related to the classification of national security information, if needed.

Prohibits an employee or applicant for employment of a covered agency from being discriminated against as a reprisal for disclosing covered information to an authorized Member of Congress or to an authorized official of an executive agency, the Department of Justice, or the Inspector General of the employee's employing covered agency.