Congress rescues HUBZone funding at 11th hour

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With passage of the Department of De-fense Appropriations Bill just before Christmas, funding for the HUBZone or Historically Underutilized Business Zone Program was restored, reversing a legislative misstep that threatened to shut down the program.|ret||ret||tab|

Before adjourning, both the Senate and the House passed bills directing the Small Business Administration to allocate up to $2 million for the HUBZones in 2002, overcoming a technical hurdle in the regular appropriations bill that would have barred any funding for HUBZones this year. |ret||ret||tab|

With the economy struggling to recover, and far too many small businesses fighting for survival, throwing the HUB- Zone Program overboard made no sense at all. |ret||ret||tab|

As ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I could not allow the job-building and community-development potential offered by HUBZones to be lost. |ret||ret||tab|

People trying to move from welfare to work a challenge even in good economic times would pay the price in lost opportunity.|ret||ret||tab|

This program helps direct federal contracting dollars to the most distressed areas of high poverty and high unemployment in Missouri and across the country. Under the HUBZone Program, the government acts as a customer. |ret||ret||tab|

Small firms that locate in HUBZones are eligible for contracting preferences, if they also agree to hire 35 percent of their employees from HUBZone areas. Through its various agencies, the federal government buys about $190 billion of goods and services a year, making it the prime candidate to help young firms gain a sound footing, stabilize and grow. |ret||ret||tab|

It was a tough battle to craft a rescue plan in the 11th hour of the Senate's appropriations cycle, but Congress made the right decision to support HUBZones. In the private sector, small firms struggling to grow have made critical business decisions and significant investments in their communities to participate in this program. De-funding the program would leave our partners in this project high and dry. |ret||ret||tab|

The HUBZone Program was enacted with unanimous bipartisan support in the Senate in 1997 through legislation I in-troduced. |ret||ret||tab|

Normally, it is funded through the ap-propriations bill that funds the Depart-ments of Commerce, Justice and State. But during consideration of Commerce, Justice and State appropriations this year, HUBZone funding was omitted from the final spending bill, leaving the Small Business Administration with no resources to carry out the program during 2002.|ret||ret||tab|

(Kit Bond is a U.S. senator representing the state of Missouri.)[[In-content Ad]]