U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s (MO-9) first piece of legislation, a bill to make the Small Business Administration’s entrepreneurial development programs more effective and responsive to the needs of small businesses, gained momentum today when it was favorably voted out of the Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Development, Entrepreneurship and Trade.

“As our country and our state continue to address the economic problems hurting our families and businesses, we should be growing our critical small businesses instead of hindering them with unwarranted tax increases,” Luetkemeyer said. “I am pleased that this important legislation is moving forward in the legislative process and will continue to work toward its passage.”

Luetkemeyer’s Expanding Entrepreneurship Act of 2009 makes several changes to the SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs at no cost to taxpayers. The bill also will expand entrepreneurial job growth by pulling resources for duplicative government programs into a streamlined and effective program to help emphasize job creation and retention.

Under the bill, entrepreneurial development planning standards would be created; there would be greater coordination of SBA entrepreneurial programs; a national task force would be created; there would be maintenance of an entrepreneurial development database; and community specialists would be introduced to serve in all SBA district offices.