Small Business – Small Office – Big Deal

Posted by: Mark Marich on August 30, 2010 Source: Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

Until late 2008, Tom Sullivan served as the Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration. While he is now back in the private sector, he is still championing the cause of entrepreneurs and small business owners everywhere.

In a recent blog post on AmericaSpeakOn.org, Sullivan reflects on the President’s recess appointment of his successor:

The Chief Counsel for Advocacy must represent the interests of small business independent of the views of the White House, the SBA Administrator, Secretary Geithner, and others.  This role is easy when an administration announces tax cuts and reductions in paperwork burden.  The Chief Counsel's independence gets tricky when EPA is issuing dozens of regulations designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions that may cripple small firms.  The role gets even more tricky as IRS gears up to implement the new 1099 reporting requirements that passed with the new health care law and OSHA is finalizing its proposal that mirrors part of the Clinton-era ergonomics rulemaking.

Winslow Sargeant will need strong shoulders to carry the weight of responsibility conveyed with representing small business in a rulemaking system that is stacked against entrepreneurs.   Research from his new office shows that small business face regulatory costs that are 45 percent higher than their larger business competitors...

Winslow Sargeant takes over the Office of Advocacy at a time when small business needs a voice in federal rulemaking more than ever before.  Small business is fearful of greenhouse gas regulations, rules that will be issued under the new health care law, and the creation of a new consumer financial regulatory enforcement bureau.  Now is the time for Winslow Sargeant to flex the Office of Advocacy's independence and protect the part of our economy we need most to dig ourselves out of this recession.

Category:  Capitol Hill  General  Tags:  tom sullivan, small business administration