August 05,2010

Baucus Unveils New Substitute Amendment to the Small Business Jobs Act

MEMORANDUM

To:          Reporters and Editors
From:     Scott Mulhauser and Erin Shields for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Re:          Baucus Unveils New Substitute Amendment to the Small Business Jobs Act

Legislative text, a summary of the changes made and an updated detailed summary of the further modified substitute amendment to the Small Business Jobs Act, unveiled by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) tonight, are attached.  From Chairman Baucus:

“We have a responsibility to pass this bill and give small businesses the help they need.  America’s small businesses are starving from a credit crunch that’s preventing them from accessing the capital they need to grow and create jobs.  This bill will give small businesses and entrepreneurs the vital access to capital, resources and opportunities they need to grow and create jobs.  Small businesses are the engine of American job creation and they need our help and they need it now.”

A summary of the modifications made in the further modified substitute amendment to the Small Business Jobs Act follows below. 

Small Business Jobs Act
Summary of Changes Made in the Substitute Amendment
August 5, 2010


Strike Provision Eliminating Advanced EITC.  The July 27, 2010 version of the Small Business Jobs Act included a provision to repeal the option to request an advanced payment of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  This provision is now included in Senate Amendment #4575 (FMAP/Teacher Funding) to H.R. 1586 and therefore no longer included in the new Reid-Baucus-Landrieu substitute amendment.  This modification is estimated to decrease package offsets by $1.1 billion.

Strike Agriculture Disaster Relief. The substitute would eliminate a provision to provide assistance for 2009 agricultural losses for crops, including specialty crops, livestock, sugar, aquaculture, cottonseed, and poultry.  This modification is estimated to reduce the cost of the package by $1.479 billion.

Strike a Provision to Reallocate Future Spending.  The July 27, 2010 version of the Small Business Jobs Act included a provision reallocating $500 million of future spending allotted in the Recovery Act and returned Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, benefits to the levels that individuals would have received in 2017 under pre-Recovery Act law, effective August 31, 2017.  This provision is now included in the new Reid-Baucus-Landrieu substitute amendment.  This modification is estimated to decrease package offsets by $500 million.

 

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