Voices

Small Business Bill: A Law with Many Names

The small business bill passed by the House today appears to have gone through a number of name changes along the way, leading to a bit of confusion in exactly what Congress approved.

When it passed the Senate last week, the bill was known as the Small Business Jobs Act. However, the House Ways and Means Committee’s Democratic leadership referred to it Thursday as H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, when it announced passage of the bill. Yet, the news release linked to a description on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s website where the bill was again called the Small Business Jobs Act, reflecting the Senate name.

Adding to the confusion, not long afterward, the Treasury Department issued a news release in which Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner lauded the final passage of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010. That was the original name of H.R. 5297 back in June before it was combined with H.R. 5486, the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010, along with the other sweeteners in the Senate version of the bill.

The White House website played it safe and stuck to lowercase letters in praising the final passage of the “small business jobs bill.” Whatever it’s called, let’s hope it does some good for small businesses, their accountants, and those in need of a job.

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