For example, I’ve introduced several proposals – including a 50 percent refundable tax credit for small businesses that provide health care to their employees. I’ve introduced a bill to have the federal government share in the cost of the most expensive, catastrophic cases that will help reduce premiums by up to 10 percent. I held a hearing in the Small Business Committee earlier this year and just last month, the Finance Committee held one focused on small business health care.

Senator Snowe and I outlined the core principles we think the Finance Committee needs to follow for any tax-based health care small business legislation. We want to see employer-based tax credits, pooling mechanisms that empower small employers, more choices for health care options through competition, and expanded opportunities for sole-proprietors to purchase health coverage.

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I hear regularly from small businesses being treated unfairly in the contracting process – from not getting paid for the work they’ve done to not getting to do the work. Unfortunately, many small businesses fear being “blacklisted” if they complain. Our Committee has passed a bill that will restore integrity to the contracting process and provide opportunities to small firms to challenge these unfair practices.

We also call on the SBA to work with all government agencies to better train government contracting officers to try and prevent these abuses. It’s going to take a while to turn around a system that under the Bush Administration has resulted in favoritism to their friends at Halliburton and Blackwater while undercutting America’s small businesses.

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In May, my Committee held a hearing on the SBA’s programs for minority entrepreneurs. We also tried to address the concerns in our bipartisan bill that reauthorizes the SBIC program. The SBA needs to use its economic development tools to help close the wealth gap between whites and minorities, and so we increased the total funding that can be invested in an individual business – allowing an even higher amount for minority and women owned enterprises. For the socially disadvantaged, we expanded the New Markets Venture Capital program which also encourages investment in rural, urban and low-income areas.

I’ve also sponsored other legislation, which was passed by our committee in June, to expand access to capital, in particular for minority entrepreneurs. African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and women are receiving far fewer small business loans relative to their share of the population and there has been no statistically significant improvement since 2001. We can do better.

I certainly believe that the current net-worth thresholds have hurt the growth of minority owned businesses. Although I’m supportive of increasing the net-worth thresholds there is a lack of support in the Senate for such a move. I need your help to create the kind of support for these changes that we both want.

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My bill doesn’t just request a study on bundling issues. We require contracting officers to do market research and provide justification for consolidating contracts. It’s a first step towards addressing this issue—contract bundling creates a barrier for small business competition. That’s why I’m working with the leaders of the Government Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee to more fully address bundling and other contracting issues. These Committees have broader jurisdiction over contracting, so we’ll have to work together to make additional changes to the law.

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I’m always concerned when an entire category of small businesses is excluded from government contracting because of a study or report. [The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General issued a report on October 15, 2007 that recommends elimination of small business dealers.] There are many veteran small business owners for example, so it would be unfortunate if this policy had a detrimental impact on them.

Although I respect the opinion and work of any Inspector General, I think that recommending the exclusion of a whole category of small businesses is at best premature. If a small business is inefficient or does not bring value to the work the agency wants carried out, the market will bear that out. To artificially end competition for some small businesses seems unwise.