Capital Change

A fresh look at the second-term Senate chair.

That's ahead for the Senate Small Business Committee in the newly elected 105th Congress? "There are a number of things we've developed in the past couple of years that I think are going to continue to be very important," says Sen. Christopher S. "Kit" Bond (R-MO), who is serving his second consecutive term at the helm of the committee. "On the regulatory front, [we need to] hold federal agencies accountable for carrying out the reforms we passed and the president signed--the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. This is a major challenge that will involve oversight and continued follow-up."

Of course, regulatory relief is but one issue that promises to occupy the committee's time. "We will be holding a number of hearings on the impact of tax burdens on small businesses--particularly homebased entrepreneurs," Bond continues. "We need to clarify the definition of an independent contractor, restore the home office deduction, and get health insurance premiums 100 percent deductible by the self-
employed. We also will be looking at targeted estate tax relief so a small-business owner can pass her or his business along to family members without having estate taxes require the selling off of the business."

Additionally, Bond says, he'd like the Senate Small Business Committee to explore ways the government can better assist entrepreneurs in exporting to newly developed overseas markets--particularly in Pacific Rim countries. "[We need to] listen to small-business owners to hear what their impediments are to accessing the export market and take steps to eliminate those problems," he explains."

An ambitious legislative agenda? By all appearances, yes. But the Senate Small Business Committee is, according to its chairman, rapidly gaining a reputation for getting things done. "You'd be hard-pressed to have a better record than we did in the last Congress, if I may say so myself," he says. "People started coming up to me [in the last congressional session] and asking, `What's happened to the Small Business Committee? Where did it catch fire?' " Bond's reply? "We're [paying attention] to what businesses need and getting people mobilized to help make the changes."

This article was originally published in the February 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Capital Change.