There weren’t any hearings before the House Small Business Committee last week. Instead, Members conducted Committee business, adopting a set of rules and an oversight plan for the 111th Congress. That sort of administrative housekeeping might seem yawn-worthy on first glimpse but the oversight plan is where the Committee indicates what issues will occupy its Members and dominate its hearing schedule over the next two years. As far as dominating is concerned, the House Small Business Committee will turn its attention to the usual subjects.

It seems that the House Committee, like its Senate counterpart, will focus on rebuilding the agency and modernizing its programs (although it is rarely clear what exactly lawmakers mean when they say they intend to “modernize” something). Of immediate concern, I suspect, will be the restoration of its budget. There is also the minor matter of reauthorizing the agency; perhaps the new Administration will usher in a period in which reauthorizing the SBA returns to being a routine chore. Meanwhile, while it looks unlikely right now that the Committee will hold a hearing specifically devoted to microbusinesses, their issues may figure prominently in some of the hearings that will be held. Issues to be examined will include access to capital, taxes, regulations, rural economic development, technology and patent reform, and health care reform (the topic of next week’s hearing).