House passes two bills sponsored by Congresswoman Newman to support small businesses and strengthen trade

House of Representatives passed Rep. Newman’s Supporting Small Business and Career and Technical Education Act and the HUBZone Price Evaluation Preference Clarification Act

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed two bipartisan bills introduced by U.S. Representative Marie Newman as part of an effort to support small businesses and strengthen trades programming across the nation.

The bills passed today include the Supporting Small Business and Career and Technical Education Act, introduced last May with Representative Roger Williams (R-TX-25), which is designed to encourage more Americans to pursue Career and Technical Education paths and to consider the financial obligations that come with a 4-year degree.

Additionally, the Congresswoman’sHUBZone Price Evaluation Preference Clarification Act passed today, which was introduced in partnership with Representative María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27) to expand contracting opportunities to millions of small businesses located in historically underutilized business zones.

“As a former small business owner, I know firsthand that our family-owned stores, our mom-and-pop shops, our neighborhood coffee stands and restaurants, all represent the lifeblood of our local economy. That is why I am so immensely proud to have passed two of my bipartisan bills today, which together will level the playing field for our entrepreneurs seeking federal contracts and integrate CTE graduates in our local small business networks to create a pipeline of good-paying jobs in our communities,” said Congresswoman Newman.

Congresswoman Marie Newman, 3rd District Illinois

“I want to thank my two Republican colleagues, Representatives Williams and Salazar, for their close partnership and collaboration as we worked together to find common ground and shared solutions that will help small businesses in every region, state and community in the United States.”

Congresswoman Newman currently sits on the House Small Business Committee, where she uses her past experience as a small business owner to shape legislation that will better support local entrepreneurs, strengthen small businesses and create new jobs. The bills passed today in a bipartisan vote represent a historic win not only for a first-year Congresswoman but for Chicago’s Southwest Side and suburbs.

The two bills passed today by the U.S. House of Representatives include:

The Supporting Small Business and Career and Technical Education Act: Introduced by Representatives Newman and Williams, the bill will amend the Small Business Act to direct Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) to assist small businesses in hiring graduates from career and technical education programs, in addition to the existing services SBDCs and WBCs provide. The bill also supports career and technical education graduates by directing SBDCs and WBCs to assist them in starting up a small business.

The HUBZone Price Evaluation Preference Clarification Act: Introduced by Representatives Newman and Salazar, the bill will amend current language to ensure more federal spending is devoted to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) HUBZone program, which could then be used to expand the number of federal and private contracting opportunities for local entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The SBA’s Historically Underutilized Business Zone Empowerment Contracting (HUBZone) program is designed to provide small businesses located in areas with low income, high poverty, or high unemployment with contracting opportunities.

Currently, funding intended for the HUBZone program and small businesses is being lost to larger firms due to incorrectly interpreted language regarding the program’s price evaluation preference. Upon passage in the Senate, the bill would clarify the program’s price evaluation language to ensure the federal government is driving its spending towards HUBZone small businesses.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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