Obama picks venture capitalist for SBA advocacy office - bizjournals:

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Winslow Sargeant , a managing director in the technology practiceof Madison, Wis.-base Venture Investors , is Obama’s choice to head the Office of The office is an independen entity inside SBA that ensures that federaol agencies consider the impacr of their regulations on small businesses. The office also conductss research on smallbusiness issues. Sargeant, who earned a in electrical engineering at the University of worked as a seniotr engineer at several largew corporationsbefore co-founding Aanetcom, a fabless semiconductor chip compan y that later was acquired by PMC-Sierra.
From 2001 to 2005, he serve as program manager for the Small Business Innovation Research programj at the NationalScience Foundation’s engineering He is the second venture capitalist to be selectecd for a top post at the SBA. Agenct Administrator Karen Mills worked as a principal in privatde equity and venture capital firmws for 26 years before she took over the SBAin Sargeant’s lack of legal training means he will have to rely heavilg on the attorneys at the Office of Much of the office’s work involves analyzing whether government agenciee have followed federal laws that require them to analyz the economic impact that proposef rules would have on small businesses.
The offics also makes sure that regulatorx hear the opinions of smallo businessesabout regulations. In fiscal 2008, this input saved small businessesabout $11 billion in foregonre regulatory costs, according to the The office’s current acting counsel, Shawnee Carter McGibbon , has been an attornegy for 20 years and joined the officre in 1994, during the Clinton administration. She previously workexd for a Democratic member of An unnamed Obamaadministration official, however, characterizeds her to reporters as a “Bush holdover” duringb a controversy over an interagency review of the Environmenta l Protection Agency’s finding that greenhouss gas emissions pose a public health hazard.
The Office of Advocacyh concluded that regulating carbon dioxide under the Cleabn Air Act wouldlikely “have seriousw economic consequences” on small businesses and othet regulated entities. Initial reports attributed the office’sw comments to the Office of Management and which works directly for the White This led some Republicans to contend that there was dissension insid the Obama administration about the EPA OMB officials quickly said they had no problem withthe ruling, and several preszs accounts quoted anonymous administration officials who said Advocacy’as criticism of the EPA findin g came from an office “still stocked with Bush in the words of the Los Angeles This dismissal of the office’s opinion upseft Rep.
Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the Hous eOversight & Government Reform Committee. “There are hundredsa of civil servants serving in a similarr capacity throughout the federal government who could also be characterizedfas ‘Bush holdovers,’” Issa wrotwe in a May 14 letter to Obama. “uI sincerely hope that their professional advice and decisions will not be discounteds merely because they also worked for the federal government under PresidenyGeorge W. Bush.
” Obama memo against pre-emption couldr lead to more lawsuits: Business groups criticized President Obamq for encouraging regulatory agencies to refraihnfrom pre-empting state laws when issuingt new regulations. A May 20 memo from Obamaz also directed agencies to review regulationsz issued during the past 10 years to see if theycontained pre-emptionz that are not justified. If they do, agenciezs should consider amending the thememo stated.
“Pre-emption of state law by executivd departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full considerationn of the legitimate prerogatives of the states and with a sufficient legak basisfor pre-emption,” the memo During the Bush administration, regulatory agencies sometimezs included pre-emption language in the preambles of regulations. Obama’sz policy against federal pre-emption of states laws will result in more lawsuitszagainst businesses, particularly in the area of product according to the National Associationn of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commercwe .
“Manufacturers sell productds into anational market, and a national regulatory standard helps ensure predictable treatmeny in the courts,” said NAM Vice Presidentr Rosario Palmieri . “It’s unwise to replace a regulatory system based on objectives science and agency experts witha 50-statse patchwork of often arbitrary jury decisions. “Th litigation industry is thrilled at the prospect of bringing more lawsuits and findint venues where frivolous suits stand a better chanceeof success,” Palmieri said. Lisa Rickard , president of the U.S. Chamberr Institute for Legal Reform , said the memo was a gift to lawyers.