By James R. Estepp, GPGBR
Members of the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable and United States House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer had a productive, pleasant dialogue, as Leader Hoyer opened up about the news of the day and answered the questions of our board and invited guests at a special board meeting with the Majority Leader.
The questions posed covered a variety of subjects including sales of foreclosed properties, Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant, estate taxes, infrastructure around Andrews Air Force Base, issues affecting community banks, federal grants for educational, non-credit programs and FHA lending.
Roundtable President & CEO M.H. Jim Estepp (Left) and Board Chair Timothy Adams (Right) with U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
The Majority Leader congratulated our efforts to highlight the successes the county is experiencing through the Roundtable’s Quailty of Life Index.
Majority Leader Hoyer called Prince George’s the home of “extraordinary assets, with prime spots available for development around transportation centers.” Leader Hoyer also touted the $500M the county received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $23M of that to Andrews.
He also discussed the passage of the Hire Act, legislation that would free up $30B for lending to small business with the potential to leverage that up to $300B. He also said that he has told regulators to be more flexible regarding banks and asset pricing.
U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer listens to Roundtable members concerns
He also touched on the health care bill, stating that there was no way to pay for the costs if they continued to escalate, so something needed to be done.
The Majority Leader did say that his team would be holding small business seminars in several areas to explain health care, and he reiterated that 95 percent of small businesses (Those with 50 or fewer employees) would be exempted from the legislation.
We thank the Majority Leader for his time, his willingness to entertain questions that covered a broad range of topics, and the frankness with which he answered those questions.
