A New Leader For The House
Small Business Committee

"When small business is healthy, America is healthy. I felt from the beginning that this committee could be an advocate across a broad range of issues for small business both within Congress and the community at large," Talent says.

That's good news for NASE Members. The third-term Congressman has developed a reputation as a tenacious fighter for issues he finds important. Talent has been an outspoken proponent for the balanced budget amendment, middle-class tax relief and Congressional term limits. In the last Congress, he served as chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Regulation and Paperwork and worked diligently to reduce bureaucracy and waste in the federal government.

Now Talent is focusing his energy on the American Community Renewal Act, legislation that he describes as "the most exciting thing I've done in my 12 years of elective life." Talent co-sponsored the bill that is designed to foster economic renewal in low-income communities.

Talent recognizes that small businesses are well suited to providing jobs in urban neighborhoods and that self-employed entrepreneurs can help revitalize communities targeted by the bill. Several proposals contained within the act encourage small business establishment in low-income communities.

Under the act, state and local governments would be required to waive local occupational licensing regulations and other barriers to entrepreneurship, except those explicitly needed to protect health and safety. The bill also includes tax credits for commercial revitalization and recommends that the federal government remove tax and regulatory obstacles. "The role of Congress should be to support and encourage entrepreneurship, not impose regulatory and tax burdens that make it impossible for the men and women who run their own businesses to hire new employees and generate wealth for themselves, their families and their employees."

The American Community Renewal Act may be Talent's most exciting piece of legislation, but it isn't his only effort to create a better business climate for the self-employed. In March, the House unanimously passed H.R. 852, the Paperwork Elimination Act of 1997 that Talent introduced. The bill requires federal agencies to provide the option of submitting, maintaining and disclosing required information by electronic means. "This is an important step in our goal of lightening the federal regulatory burden on small business," Talent explains. "H.R. 852 offers an option that will reduce the burden of government for those who choose it, but it doesn't force that option on those who do not have the ability or the desire to use it."

This year Talent also introduced H.R. 1145, the Home-Based Business Fairness Act. The bill's three provisions include modernizing the home-office deduction, clarifying independent contractor rules and increasing the self-employed's deduction for health insurance premiums to 100 percent. Talent says he's optimistic that some of those issues will be included in the final federal budget agreement.

Talent's leadership position in the House Small Business Committee gives him the opportunity to continue speaking out for the self-employed. The chairman strongly believes in "being available and going where you can do the most good. I have always wanted to dovetail a personal career with an opportunity to make a difference." The NASE believes that Talent will make a difference.

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"The role of Congress should be to support
and encourage entrepreneurship, not impose regulatory
and tax burdens. . ."

- Jim Talent
Congressman

To e-mail Congressman Talent, or to visit his homepage, click here.