Kansas legislators are considering bills that would encourage the state to give more business to small companies. Local leaders are asking business owners to email messages of support for the legislation, ASAP. Here's the text of their appeal:

As a small business owner either located in Kansas, or doing business with Kansas, we urgently need your support.  For the past several years, a representative group of business leaders have met and worked on drafting a 360-degree piece of legislation designed to benefit Kansas small, minority and women owned businesses by creating a program aimed at increasing access to Kansas government contracts. 

To date, Kansas is one of only a handful of states lacking such a program. Our current administration has voiced its policy to strongly support Kansas small business. We now have an express chance for the government to not only talk the talk, but to actually walk the walk in supporting small business growth for Kansas!

The representative committee, sponsored by Representatives Annie Tietze and Senators Faust-Goudeau and Tom Holland, have drafted a bill to be presented as HB 2450 and SB  268 respectively. Each of these identical bills is being presented to the respective Commerce Committees for the 2012 legislative session. The House bill is anticipated to be heard in testimony potentially as early as next week. Both bills are identical and:

1. Legislatively authorize the State to create and support a Small, Minority and Women Business Development Act.

2. Permit the State to identify, in the budgeting process each year, a moving goal designed to focus attention on making a certain percent of Kansas procurements open to small business participation.

3. Drafted as race and gender neutral, the bill permits ALL Kansas small businesses to participate, recording contract awards on the basis of “small business,” “minority small business” and/or “women owned small business” categories.

4. The bill does not contain quotas.

5. The bill DOES contain a flexible goal system, with waivers available should a particular procurement not lend itself to achievement of any small business goal set.

6. Understanding the State has limited resources, the bill has been drafted in such a way as to minimize any additional costs in its implementation.

7. As the State is already providing MBE/WBE certification, and where the “small business” size would be self-certifying, the only additional step needed to implement the program is for the State to create on an annual basis, following department budget review, an overall target small business goal to be reflected in the State’s procurements, and the implementation of recording forms with the bid and final billing that track actual performance to goal.

The specific bills may be reviewed at:

House Bill HB 2450: Enacting the Kansas small and disadvantaged business development act   http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/measures/hb2450/

Senate Bill SB 268: Enacting the Kansas small and disadvantaged business development act  http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2011_12/measures/sb268/

Every economist agrees that small business growth is KEY to the economic recovery so desperately needed.  Growing small businesses equates to new hires, office expansion, equipment supply and vehicle purchases, broader employee benefits, and increased tax revenues to the local, state and federal tax coffers. This is a GOOD PROGRAM! 

However, if the Small Business Owners of Kansas fail to voice their support, our legislators will not realize how important access to Kansas government contracts are to our state’s small business concerns.

DO YOUR PART! If you support the concepts identified above, please confirm it by emailing the following, TODAY,  to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Denise will compile and present the supporting emails to the respective committees when the bills are presented for consideration. For your ease, you can simply cut, paste and complete the needed information from below and email it on.

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Dear Commerce Committee Members:

Thank you for considering implementation of the Kansas small and disadvantaged business development act.  My name is (insert), and I am a resident of the state of Kansas, and/or own and operate a business within the State of Kansas.  I have reviewed the proposed Small Business Bill, submitted as HB 2450 and SB 268, and wish to voice my support of this important legislation.  As a small business owner, the ability to access government contracts is critical to the ongoing growth and financial viability of my business.  With the State’s focus on supporting Kansas small business through this legislation, I am confident that access to these contracts will permit me to increase hiring and purchases in this next fiscal year, while simultaneously increasing the tax revenues so desperately needed by the State.

(Tell a little about your business, how government contracting has helped you in the past, or how you think it would help you grow in the future, put this in here)

Thank you for your attention and support to this important legislation.

Sincerely,

(Your name

Title

Business name and address

Residence address if you are a Kansas voter)