WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe was re-elected chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business Wednesday, saying her goal will be to reduce the burdens on small business owners.

Her preliminary agenda includes initiatives to address high health insurance costs, legal, regulatory and tax compliance burdens, access to capital, global competition and contract bundling.

She said her agenda may grow in response to the president’s forthcoming 2006 budget and the final legislative agenda issued by Senate’s leadership.

“As a nation, we have reached a critical point where common sense and economic reality demand that policies affecting small businesses be given absolute priority to sustain growth,” said Snowe in a release.

Under Snowe’s leadership last year, a final resolution to the long-delayed reauthorization of the Small Business Administration was passed and enacted into law, ensuring that the federal assistance programs on which the small business community relies will be available over the next two years.

Snowe pledged to lead the committee to address a broad array of issues, including ensuring that SBA programs operate efficiently and provide practical assistance to help small businesses succeed.

Specifically, she said her agenda includes:

• Health care: Access to health care and the cost of health insurance remain leading concerns of the nation’s small businesses, she said. As a result, ensuring final passage of health plan legislation and promoting greater competition in small-group health insurance markets will be a priority.

• Legal/regulatory burdens: Publish how-to compliance guides to help small firms better understand and comply with federal agency regulations.

• Litigation burdens: Examine the challenges the current legal system imposes on small firms and evaluate options to alleviate those burdens. Also, create a fire wall around the SBA’s Office of Advocacy to guard against political interference in its day-to-day management.

• Taxes: Simplify the tax code to encourage changes that reduce the paperwork and record-keeping burdens affecting small businesses and the self-employed, as well as the costs associated with meeting IRS compliance regulations.

• Access to capital and markets: Promote a consensus among Congress, the administration and the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) companies to reform and improve the SBA’s Participating Securities SBIC Program.

• Trade and small manufacturers: Strengthen existing trade assistance programs for small manufacturers and examine new options to promote the success of small exporters in global markets.

• Procurement/federal contracting: Reform federal procurement policies to strike a balance between encouraging contracting opportunities for small firms and promoting streamlined, high-efficiency buying practices by federal agencies.