By Karen Axelton
President Obama has requested authority to streamline U.S. executive agencies and announced plans to begin with trade-related agencies including the Small Business Administration, Bloomberg reports. Dubbed the Consolidation Authority Act, the proposed legislation would give the President executive authority to streamline the executive branch. This power last held by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
The president has said the goal is to shrink government and save money, and asked Congress to “fast track” the proposal for a vote within 90 days. If the plan is authorized, the president would start by replacing the Commerce Department with a new agency that will consist of four units: trade and investment, including enforcement, financing and promotion; small business and economic development; technology and innovation, including the patent office; and statistics. The new agency would include the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corp., the Trade and Development Agency and the SBA.
“Small businesses often face a maze of agencies when looking for even the most basic answers to the most basic questions,” says the White House website. “There is a whole host of websites, toll-free numbers and customer service centers that at times offer them differing advice. The result is a system that is not working for our small businesses. The President is proposing to consolidate those six departments and agencies into one department with one website, one phone number and one mission—helping American businesses succeed [and creating] one department where entrepreneurs can go.”
As to what that might mean for the SBA, one piece of good news for that agency is that the president has elevated SBA Administrator Karen Mills to a Cabinet-level position (he can do this without Congress’s approval).
A study by the Government Accountability Office in March 2011 found that the federal government’s economic development programs are “fragmented” and was unable to measure their efficiency and effectiveness. It’s estimated that consolidating agencies would eventually eliminate 1,000 to 2,000 federal government jobs through attrition and would save $3 billion over 10 years.
The proposal would have to be approved by Congress, and both Democrats and Republicans have expressed guarded feelings about the idea. In particular, both Republican and Democratic chairs of the committees that oversee trade policy objected to the proposal to move the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to a new department.
Small business advocates aren’t gung-ho for the idea, either. Todd McCracken, President and CEO of the National Small Business Association expressed the views of many when he told the Huffington Post Small Business, “There simply aren’t enough details available yet to know if this will be a net win or loss for small business. On the one hand, reorganizing federal agencies to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for America’s small businesses could streamline processes and make accessing information and assistance much easier. On the other hand, such a reorganization could minimize the emphasis placed on small business by the federal government and lead to an even greater imbalance toward promoting the interests of large businesses over those of small business.”
Image by Flickr user Tom Lohdan (Creative Commons)
Google+Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
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