Senator Vitter In as Senate Small Business Committee Chair

November 6, 2014

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Coleman Report

SenatorVitterA knowledgeable source of the matter has told us that, “Senator David Vitter (R-LA) will be the next Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee under the new Republican leadership.”

“Also, the ranking member on the Democratic side will be Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD).”

When we asked what happened to Senator Risch (R-ID), our source said, “Senator Risch has been the ranking member and has done a very admirable and widely respected job of leading the Republican side of the committee and really digging into small business lending issues. Senator Risch has the sophistication to really be an advocate for small business lending and the SBA. Senator Vitter’s positions on the SBA or SBA lending are very unclear.”

What does this mean for the industry?

“Senator Vitter wants to be Chairman of a Senate Committee, he will not do anything drastic to impair the flagship program of the SBA, simple as that.”

“Senator Vitter announced that he will run for governor of Louisiana in 2015. Being a Chairman of a committee would be a desirable thing for him.”

Watch Bob Coleman interview Washington Business Journal’s Kent Hoover Thursday, November 6th at 1:50 ET discussing this issue.

Kent Hoover covers Congress and the federal government for 40 business journals with his main focus on small business.

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