•  Says it shuts out small business

•  ‘Virtually ignores the very firms that create 97 percent of all new jobs’

The stimulus bill signed into law today by President Barack Obama offers $787 billion in new government spending but contains no specific provisions to direct even a dollar to America's 26 million small businesses, says the American Small Business League, a Petaluma-based advocacy group.

Since the purpose of the stimulus bill is job creation, the small business advocate says it is puzzled as to “why the bill virtually ignores the very firms that create 97 percent of all new jobs.”

“In addition to being shut out of the new economic stimulus bill, federal investigations have uncovered that small businesses are not receiving the minimum 23 percent of federal contracts as required by existing federal law,” ASBL says.

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, firms with fewer than 20 employees account for over 90 percent of all American businesses and are responsible for more than 97 percent of all new jobs, ASBL says. These small businesses also employ over 50 percent of all private sector workers.

To track how the money is spent, the White House has set up a website. Click on the link below to go to it.

Source:  http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=11169