Senate likely to recess without passing small-business bill

The Senate will almost certainly begin its two-week recess without passing the Small Business Administration (SBA) funding bill, which has been stalled on the floor for almost four weeks, Senate staffers close to leadership told The Hill on Thursday.

Senate leaders were unable to move the bill forward because of disagreements on three amendments that are not germane, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Wednesday.

“Some in the Senate won’t allow an agreement on other amendments unless they get their amendments,” Reid complained. “We just haven’t been able to work through this legislative morass.”

Much of the Senate’s attention has also been consumed with the budget debate for fiscal year 2011, which is expected to conclude when the House and Senate vote on a proposal to cut $39.9 billion from the remainder of this fiscal year on Thursday.

Although the SBA funding bill is non-controversial, senators from both parties have taken advantage of the open amendment process to file more than 125 amendments — of which only about 20 are germane.

The only way to avoid time-consuming votes and allow the bill to proceed is to convince senators to combine or drop their proposals.

The three amendments holding up the bill, according to Reid, are:

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s (R-Texas) proposal to delay the implementation of the healthcare reform law until a final resolution is reached in pending lawsuits;

Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) plan to form a bipartisan commission to improve oversight of government spending; and

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) proposal to establish a point of order against any effort to reduce benefits paid to Social Security recipients, raise the retirement age or create private retirement accounts.

The underlying Small Business Reauthorization Act, or S. 493, would provide funding for the Small Business Innovation Research program and the Small Business Technology Transfer program, which Democrats say would create jobs.