Democratic Congressman Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania is no friend of small businesses, says the American Small Business League, which selected the two-term representative as the most anti-small business member of Congress.

 

What earned Altmire this distinction? During his first year in office, Altmire introduced legislation (the Small Business Investment Expansion Act of 2007) that would have changed the definition of a small business to include those majority owned and controlled by billionaire venture capitalists. Had the redefinition become law, small businesses would have had to compete against big businesses and venture capital syndicates for federal small business contracts, grants and loans.

 

Although passed by the House of Representatives, the 2007 bill never became law. But Altmire tried again to reclassify small businesses by inserting the new definition into legislation last year. Again, the effort failed. But by then Altmire had cemented his reputation with the small business league.

 

None of this has stopped Altmire from touting himself as a friend of small business, and in September he voted for the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Pennsylvania Representative Jason Altmire Named "Most Anti-Small Business Congressman" (by Lloyd Chapman, Huffington Post)