President Barack Obama delivered the annual State of the Union address with a bit less of a partisan, pep-rally atmosphere than has been present at the speech in recent years, and it certainly carried far from celebratory tone over achievements of the last year. Much of the speech read like jet another open love letter from the president to the business community, especially smaller operations, that White House is serious about improving conditions for U.S. industry. Though much of the speech revolved around looking forward, "doing better" and "reinventing ourselves, Obama quickly and decisively pointed out ways the administration was willing to extend the olive branch to businesses. Key among them was restating the plan unveiled in January to eliminate unnecessary regulatory overlap, such as 12 different agencies having a hand in certain business mandates or, in a somewhat joking aside, that two departments are responsible for salmon, pending on what part of the production process the industry is in. Additionally, Obama shined a light on an issue dear to the GOP: trade. He made no less than four references in the speech to South Korea, with whom the United States just signed a new free trade agreement. He also strongly reaffirmed the plan to step up exporting activity not just in the long-term, but right now. The president also all but promised a huge push to amend last year's health care legislation to remove 1099 provisions that would lead to a heap of unnecessary, unwanted paperwork by U.S. businesses. Brian Shappell, NACM staff writer

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Predicts Repeal Action Before March

After several failed attempts in the last Congress, the Senate finally voted to repeal the controversial 1099 requirement, originally passed as part of the health care reform bill.

In a bipartisan, 81-17 vote, the Senate agreed to erase the provision that would've required small businesses to file an Internal Revenue Service form 1099 for every vendor from whom they annually buy $600 worth of goods or services. The measure was originally enacted as a revenue generator, but quickly drew the ire of small business owners and advocacy associations nationwide, eventually becoming universally reviled.

The repeal came in the form of an amendment attached to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization bill.

"Today we provided a common-sense solution for business owners so they can focus on creating jobs, not filling out paperwork for the IRS," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), who proposed the successful 1099 repeal amendment. "Since last year, I have worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address this problem. If left unchecked, 40 million small businesses would see their IRS 1099 paperwork increase 2000%."

Repeal efforts in the House continue, however, most recently in the form of a hearing, titled "Buried In Paperwork: A 1099 Update," held in the House Committee on Small Business. "This new 1099 requirement will cause an avalanche of additional 1099 forms to be filed, and affect over 36 million entities," said committee chairman Sam Graves (R-MO). "At a time when we should be making it easier to create jobs, promote growth and invest in our economy, small firms don't need yet another costly and burdensome mandate."

Due to the tax implications inherent in a repeal measure, any bill that eliminates the 1099 requirement will have to pass through the House's Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over the tax code, before reaching the full House for a vote. However, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) has indicated that he expects his committee to take up the repeal effort before March 1, 2011.

Stay tuned to NACM's eNews and Credit Real-Time Blog for latebreaking updates on the 1099 repeal efforts.

Jacob Barron, NACM staff writer