Julia Jamieson's blog

Great news everyone: our Chamber Chatter program is back!   After widespread positive feedback, we have decided to extend Chatter through the remainder of the year.  That’s right, join us and the White House’s Ari Matusiak, Special Assistant to the President and Director of Private Security Engagement on the last Wednesday of every month from 2-3pm EST to learn the latest happenings of D.C. straight from the mouths of national policymakers.

National small business advocacy organization Small Business Majority announced today the addition of eight new staff members to our team. The new employees will increase our capability to work on issues that matter most to small employers.

The team members will work out of various Small Business Majority offices across the country, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, D.C. Small Business Majority now has 25 members on staff working to engage policymakers in support of solutions that promote small business growth and drive a strong economy.
 

The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are launching the Affordable Care Act 101 weekly webinar series.  Each week, SBA representatives will walk through the key pieces of the law so that small business owners can understand the facts and make the most informed decisions they can about providing health insurance for their employees.

This free series will focus on both federal and state provisions to help small business owners understand how the law will affect them. Topics being discussed include:

America was made by entrepreneurs — individuals whose hard work and tenacious spirits allowed them to build our nation, brick by brick and storefront by storefront, into what it is today. For hundreds of years we have relied on small-business owners to carry our economy forward, buoy it when it falters and rebuild it when it crumbles. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed the first National Small Business Week to honor the individuals whose sacrifices and triumphs make up the backbone of this nation. This week marks the 50th anniversary of that proclamation.

Immigration reform and the “Gang of Eight’s” bill making its way through the Senate right now is big news, and for good reason. Our immigration system is broken. It needs to be fixed. Small business owners recognize this and realize reform will be good for their businesses, their communities and our economy. The Gang of Eight’s bill is a huge step in the right direction toward reforming the system, but it’s not perfect. No bill is.

While tax day is behind us, most small business owners have likely filed extensions to let them continue combing through the tax code looking for ways to keep their hard-earned dollars in their own coffers instead of in Uncle Sam’s. Fortunately, there have been some encouraging developments recently in Congress that could significantly impact small businesses.

This memo was originally issued on April 4, 2013:

The Department of Health and Human Services’ proposal to delay critical requirements for small business health insurance exchanges in some states is a disappointment to Small Business Majority and millions of small businesses. It’s a letdown to small business owners and their employees looking forward to robust, competitive exchanges in 2014. We hope this proposal is recognized as counterproductive and is abandoned.

This week marks the third anniversary of the health care law’s passage. Given the amount of airtime the law still gets, it’s hard to believe the Affordable Care Act has been on the books that long. The law continues to generate controversy from the corridors of Capitol Hill to the sidewalks of Main Street, but in fact many important provisions impacting our country’s primary job creators have been quietly helping small business owners better afford health insurance.

John Arensmeyer