{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-reps-davids-d-ks-alford-r-mo-tout-passage-their-bipartisan-bill-help", "ICYMI: Reps. Davids (D-KS), Alford (R-MO) Tout Passage of their Bipartisan Bill to Help Veteran Business Owners Succeed", "2023-12-01", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "KS", "Sharice Davids", "D000629", "davids.house.gov", "davids", "https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Representatives Sharice Davids (D-KS-03) and Mark Alford\u2019s (R-MO-04) SERV Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill would help veteran small business owners and entrepreneurs succeed by studying the barriers faced when starting a business and boosting the outreach and promotion of existing veteran-focused small business programs to ensure they can access all available resources, capital, and credit. Davids, whose mother served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, originally introduced the legislation in 2019, when it first passed the House with broad bipartisan support.\n\nWhile military experience provides transferable entrepreneurial training and skills, the number of veterans starting their own businesses has decreased drastically over the last few decades. Today, only 4.5 percent of the more than 3.6 million veterans who have served since September 11, 2001 have launched a company. In contrast, the number of World War II and Korean War veterans who went on to operate a business was 50 and 40 percent, respectively. Reasons for this decline include challenges accessing credit, transitioning to civilian life, and overcoming stigmas around physical disabilities and post-traumatic stress disorder.\n\nDavids and Alford\u2019s efforts to support veteran business owners made headlines across the region:\n\nKansas City Star: \u201cKS Democrat and MO Republican team up to pass bill to help veterans start businesses\u201d\n\n\u201cOn Tuesday night, the House unanimously passed a bill sponsored by Alford and Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, that did just that.\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u2018The problem is a lot of times people don\u2019t know about it, veterans don\u2019t know,\u2019 Davids said. \u2018And so, we\u2019re like, the effort here is to just make sure that we\u2019re bringing all of those resources, the information about the resources to light and making sure that there\u2019s kind of like a one stop shop almost for people to be able to find that stuff.\u2019\n\nThis is the first bill Davids, who is in her third term, and Alford, who is in his first term, have teamed up on. But they said other bills, including one focused on agriculture, are in the works. Both also serve on the House Agriculture Committee together.\u201d\n\nKSHB: \u201cAlford, Davids lead bipartisan support for SERV Act in Washington, D.C.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe elected leaders said the vote shows there is unity and cooperation in Washington, D.C. \u2014 a city often under a cloud of partisan dysfunction.\n\n\u2018There are times when republicans and democrats are able to come together and work on really good legislation,\u2019 Davids said during a Zoom interview while sitting in the same room as Alford.\n\nBoth members of congress represent the greater Kansas City area. They also serve on the House Committee on Agriculture together.\n\n\u2018It was a very special moment, I think, not just for Sharice and I, but also for veterans and for the American people,\u2019 Alford said.\u201d\n\nKCUR: \u201cLISTEN: A Missouri Republican and Kansas Democrat team up to help veterans become business owners\u201d\n\n\u201cIn effort to understand the decline in small business ventures by former service members, U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) and Mark Alford (R-Missouri), both members of the House Small Business Committee, co-sponsored the Successful Entrepreneurship for Reservists and Veterans Act (SERV Act).\n\nThe legislation passed the U.S. House on Tuesday night.\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u2018We'll have almost like a one-stop shop situation for our veterans. So that they're not having to look in five different places for these resources,\u2019 said Davids.\n\nDavids previously introduced the SERV Act in 2019. The bill passed through the House with bipartisan support but did not pass the Senate.\u201d\n\nKCTV News:\n\n\u201cVeterans who serve our country need jobs when they come back home. Now, two lawmakers from the Kansas City area are working across the aisle to make it easier for veteran small business owners to be successful. Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids\u2019 mother served for 20 years. She and Missouri Republican Mark Alford are putting a bipartisan effort behind the SERV Act.\n\n\u2018When it comes to our veteran communities, these guys, I mean, they\u2019ve got grit. They\u2019ve got leadership skills,\u2019 [said Davids].\n\n\u2018If we can help one veteran start one business, then we\u2019ve succeeded,\u2019 [said Alford].\u201d\n\nKansas Reflector: \u201cDavids, Alford lead bipartisan effort for bill aimed at helping veterans launch small businesses\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Veterans possess many of the entrepreneurial skills needed to start and run a successful small business, but we must do a better job of helping them transition from service to business,\u2019 Davids said. \u2018The SERV Act not only honors our veterans \u2026 it empowers our veterans to embark on a new chapter as entrepreneurs and small business owners.\u2019\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\u2018The Small Business Administration has many different programs aimed at helping veteran entrepreneurs, but these programs are only useful if veterans know about them,\u2019 Davids said.\n\nIn July, Alford and Davids reintroduced the SERV Act originally offered by Davids in 2019. It cleared the House at that time, but not the Senate.\n\nCongressional hearings in 2023 put a spotlight on the argument SBA could do more to assist veterans interested in operating a business, Alford said.\n\n\u2018One of the biggest barriers for entrepreneurs, especially for our veterans, is accessing capital,\u2019 he said. \u2018It is a critical component when starting a business and one of the biggest challenges throughout a small business\u2019s lifespan.\u2019\u201d\n\nKWCH:\n\n\u201cSome members of Congress are working to help veteran small business owners succeed. It comes as roughly 25 percent of veterans report difficulties transitioning back to civilian life. Now both Kansas Representative Sharice Davids and Missouri Republican Mark Alford are putting bipartisan effort behind the SERV Act. The Act aims to streamline capital and counseling to veteran entrepreneurs.\n\n[\u2026]", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-reps-davids-d-ks-alford-r-mo-tout-passage-their-bipartisan-bill-help"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 5.162425804883242, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}