FROM SEN. KAY HAGAN'S OFFICE

U.S. Senator Kay R. Hagan today voted for a measure that will allow small business owners to focus on expanding their businesses and adding jobs. The bipartisan provision passed 81 to 17 and removes burdensome paperwork requirements from the health care law that would have forced small businesses to lose valuable time and resources.

“Small businesses are the key to our economic recovery in North Carolina and across the country, and we need to eliminate any government red tape that inhibits their success,” said Hagan. “This bipartisan provision allows our small business owners to focus their energy on growingtheir businesses and adding jobs. As a member of the Senate Small Business Committee, I will continue working with my colleagues to create a better business climate for our small businesses to prosper and grow.”

The provision would eliminate a new tax reporting rule that requires businesses, charities and government entities to file a separate 1099 tax form for every business from which they purchase more than $600 in goods. Because the current threshold would include many routine transactions, such as phone bills and shipping costs, businesses would be forced to spend more staff time on paperwork, increasing overhead costs. The provision is very similar to a bill, introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE), that Hagan cosponsored last week.

Last September, the President signed into law a bipartisan bill backed by Hagan to help small businesses create jobs in North Carolina. The package included a Hagan-cosponsored $30 billion small business lending fund that will now be available to community banks to supplement lending to small businesses.

Hagan also fought to extend key loan provisions in the bill that increased the Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantee on small business loans to 90 percent and waived fees associated with SBA-backed loans. The North Carolina District of the Small Business Administration has already approved 414 loans for $198.2 million during thefirst three months of fiscal year 2011. This is a 37 percent increase in SBA loans directed to North Carolina businesses over the first quarter 2010.