[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 71 (Wednesday, June 7, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3487-H3488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE ALLEN SMALL BUSINESS PLAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fortenberry). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to discuss the circumstances 
of the small business community in Maine and across the country. 
Regardless of size or industry, small businesses throughout the country 
share a common set of challenges: skyrocketing health care and fuel 
costs, an unstable and outdated Federal tax structure, an insufficient 
labor supply and lack of qualified workers, a lack of access to Federal 
contracts and inadequate funding for entrepreneurial assistance 
programs for start-up businesses and businesses that want to grow.
  And it is my experience here that many of the organizations in 
Washington that hold themselves out as small business organizations are 
really advocating, in reality, a big business agenda.
  Back in my home State of Maine, small business is big business. Maine 
is home to over 140,000 small businesses, and we have nearly 100,000 
Mainers who are self-employed. Our prosperity depends on the growth and 
the success of small business.
  I have two bills, H.R. 5288, the Small Business Health Plans Act, and 
H.R. 5058, the Small Business Investment and Promotion Act, that would 
both aid small businesses by addressing many of the challenges that 
they face today.
  Small businesses across America are struggling to maintain health 
care coverage for their workers. Really, most of the people I talk to 
every year find their premiums going up and find it very difficult to 
predict how much their health insurance will cost for the next year, 
assuming they have coverage.
  My plan, under the bill H.R. 5288, makes quality health insurance 
more affordable and makes it easier for small businesses to obtain 
coverage for their employees. I believe that employees are entitled to 
the same coverage that Members of Congress and other Federal employees 
have. That is what my Small Business Health Plans bill provides.
  The legislation would establish a small employer health benefits 
program for employers with 50 or fewer employees by creating new 
purchasing tools that would guarantee quality coverage at affordable 
rates to small businesses and their employees without preempting State 
requirements, much the way the coverage for Federal employees works.
  One aspect of the bill would be to attract insurance companies by 
subsidizing the cost of catastrophic health care cases, and that would 
bring private insurers into this market and make the plan attractive.
  Second, we would provide some premium assistance for smaller 
businesses and lower-wage workers.
  Now, the second bill, H.R. 5058, has six different sections that 
cover the other difficulties that I mentioned at the beginning. First, 
the high cost of fuel for transportation and heat in winter is breaking 
the backs of small business owners, and no relief is in sight. H.R. 
5058 creates a 2-year tax credit to cover the increased cost of fuel 
for businesses that are especially dependent on transportation fuel or 
the fuel to heat businesses and buildings.
  Second, the Research and Development Tax Credit has never been made 
permanent, and that creates a great deal of uncertainty among 
businesses, large and small. This tax credit, if made permanent, would 
help companies stay afloat until they become profitable and would 
benefit all manufacturers for products that they develop by expending 
money on R&D. And my bill would make the credit permanent, and allow 
biotech and high-tech companies to make innovation a part of their 
long-term business plan.
  Third, the Federal Government must do a better job of providing 
opportunity for small business to compete and win Federal contracts. My 
bill expands opportunities for small business

[[Page H3488]]

by including overseas contracts which are currently excluded from 
Federal small business contracting targets. This is a real gap. Big 
business can compete for overseas contracts, but small businesses are 
shut out simply by the fact of the size of their business.
  Fourth, the President's budget request this year called for cuts or 
elimination of 75 percent of the programs that benefit small business. 
It is hard to believe that an administration that says it favors 
business is, in fact, trying to kill the section 7(a) loan program for 
the Small Business Administration and trying to eliminate the Maine 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
  The final two provisions: We would create a 39-year tax depreciation 
rule for restaurants and small retailers and make it easier for 
businesses to obtain H-1B and H-2B visas.

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