Supportive public policies can have considerable impact on microentrepreneurs – affecting even those who don’t enter a microenterprise program.  In fact, supportive policies may have the potential to affect much larger numbers of microentrepreneurs than are reached directly through microenterprise program services.

The microenterprise industry has long recognized the importance of strong public policy. Going forward, there are areas where policy initiatives aimed directly at microentrepreneurs can play a key role in supporting the growth of both microenterprises and the programs that serve them. These initiatives cover a range of areas: social welfare programs that support disadvantaged individuals, access to health insurance, efforts to support asset development and access to financial services, and tax and regulatory policies. The following resources provide information on policy research and initiatives that have been conducted to date on those issues.

Self-Employment and Social Welfare Policy

Self-Employment for TANF Recipients

• Microenterprise Development and Self-Employment for TANF Recipients: State Experiences and Issues in TANF Reauthorization. This report, prepared by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) as part of FIELD’s evaluation of 10 organizations funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, provides a detailed discussion of policy recommendations that would strengthen the ability of states to support self-employment and microenterprise development as an option for TANF recipients. Based on detailed site visits to four of the grantee organizations, as well as case studies that document formal TANF policies in the nine states where the grantees were located, the publication provides a clear discussion of the issues and barriers that exist in current law, and how these might be addressed as Congress moves to reauthorize the TANF law. (April 2002, 36 pages, authored by Nisha Patel and Mark Greenberg.)
• Developing Policies to Support Microenterprise in the TANF Structure:  A Guide to the Law.  In this report, prepared by the Center for Law and Social Policy, states seeking to provide support for microenterprise initiatives under TANF will find advice on how to overcome potential barriers and challenges presented by federal requirements. (November 1999, 18 pages, authored by Mark Greenberg.)
• TANF-Funded Microenterprise: A Tool for Self-Sufficiency. This first volume in CFED’s Effective State Policy and Practices series outlines the key steps involved in integrating microenterprise within a state’s TANF system. The bulletin covers topics such as: identifying how microenterprise is treated within the state TANF system, developing an advocacy strategy, and recommendations for creating a supportive policy structure at the state level. (Undated, 6 pages, Corporation for Enterprise Development.)
• Microenterprise for Welfare Recipients: A Tool for Self-Sufficiency. This handbook, developed by the California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity, provides information on how microenterprise can be integrated into California’s TANF and CalWorks programs. It includes information on how microenterprise organizations and local welfare agencies can work together, and the elements of effective microenterprise programs for TANF recipients. While this resource provides less specific policy information than the publications above, it is a good model for a piece that provides solid introductory material for both microenterprise practitioners and local welfare agencies. (Undated, 27 pages, California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity.)

Self-Employment for Individuals with Disabilities

• Entrepreneurship Development for Individuals with Disabilities. Volume 5, No. 1, Effective State Policy and Practice Bulletin.  This bulletin provides an overview of the developing field of entrepreneurship development for individuals with disabilities. It outlines the challenges faced by entrepreneurs with disabilities, and details the range of supports these entrepreneurs need. It also makes recommendations for how State Microenterprise Associations and microenterprise programs can foster entrepreneurship development for individuals with disabilities.  (Undated, 6 pages, Corporation for Enterprise Development.)
• Microenterprise Services for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities: A Market of Millions.  This training manual from the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) is designed to give microenterprise organizations an introduction to the potential of extending services to entrepreneurs with disabilities. It provides key information for practitioners on the policy context in which entrepreneurs with disabilities function, such as the language of disability, vocational rehabilitation systems, and the benefit system. (2004, 43 pages, authored by Patti Lind and Mark Nolte, The Abilities Fund).  The manual can be ordered from the AEO Bookstore.
• The Abilities Fund is a nationwide community development organization that focuses on advancing entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals with disabilities. As part of that effort, the Fund provides information and assistance to vocational rehabilitation professionals and agencies interested in making self-employment available to their clients.

Self-Employment for Unemployed and Displaced Workers

• Using the Workforce Investment Act to Support Microenterprise Development. This Effective State Policy and Practice bulletin from CFED provides an overview of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and shows how State Microenterprise Associations and other microenterprise advocates can seek to use the WIA system to support microenterprise development. It outlines the specific steps involved in understanding the WIA system and designing effective WIA-funded microenterprise state policy and practice. (Undated, 6 pages, Corporation for Enterprise Development.)
• U.S. Department of Labor Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 16-04.  This letter from the Employment and Training Administration Advisory System outlines the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) current efforts to encourage the workforce investment system to make entrepreneurial training opportunities available under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act. The first four pages of the letter provide a helpful outline of the DOL’s historical involvement in self-employment, the legal authority currently provided to states through federal legislation, and the department’s current self-employment activities. (February 2005, 7 pages, U.S. Department of Labor.)

Health Insurance for Low-Income Entrepreneurs

• FIELD Health Insurance Resources. Recognizing the difficulty that microentrepreneurs have in accessing affordable health insurance, FIELD has compiled a downloadable set of resources for microenterprise practitioners. These include a seven-page chart that compares promising state, national and community level programs to cover the uninsured; a four-page summary of the scope of the health insurance crisis facing microentrepreneurs along with some proposed national, state and community-level solutions to this crisis; and a 35-page white paper that examines how to broaden access to affordable health insurance for low-income, self-employed individuals.
• Health Coverage and the Micro-business: a National Perspective. This report from the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) presents the results from a nationwide survey of the impact of health care costs and availability on microbusinesses. Although NASE’s sample of microbusinesses includes businesses larger than those typically served by the microenterprise field (it defines microbusinesses as businesses with 10 or fewer employees, and the sample was drawn from subscribers to Entrepreneur Magazine), the sample is segmented to present findings on sole proprietorships and businesses with revenues of less than $50,000. Several of the report’s findings may be useful in state- or national-level efforts to advocate for more accessible and affordable health care coverage for microentrepreneurs. (September 2005, 51, pages, National Association for the Self-Employed.)

Asset Building and Access to Financial Services

• Promoting Economic Security for Working Families: State Asset-Building Initiatives. This publication from the Fannie Mae Foundation profiles work in six states to develop multi-faceted agendas to support asset development. The states are: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Many of the described initiatives include specific support for microenterprise programs, but they also include policies, such as state Earned Income Tax Credits, expanded access to health insurance, and Individual Development Accounts, that can provide support to microentrepreneurs. The report is intended as a resource for policymakers and other state leaders who are exploring statewide initiatives that promote asset building among working families. (July 2005, 33 pages, authored by Heather McCulloch.) 
• Assets & Opportunity Scorecard. This tool from CFED provides information on how states are doing from an asset-development perspective. The scorecard looks at measures in a variety of areas – including business development, as well as homeownership and financial security – to reveal how residents in the state are doing, and the types of policies in place to support asset development. The Web site includes information, such as access to the data measures, as well as specialized short reports, which can be useful in advocating for asset development policies at the state level. 
• State Assets Policy. These Web pages from the Center for Social Development provide detailed information on asset policies at the state level, including a page for each of the 50 states that includes on-line links to IDA legislation and program rules, state-level program information and state IDA legislative history.  Also included is a list and contact information for selected asset policy advocates in each state.
• www.idanetwork.org.  CFED’s Web site includes information on asset policies, including background on key federal legislation relating to asset development, and tips on how to advocate effectively for state-level asset policies.
• www.assetbuilding.org. This Web site developed by the New America Foundation provides a wide array of resources on asset development. It includes links to information on research, policy initiatives, news coverage, and resources on asset building.

Tax and Regulatory Policies and Microenterprise

• Giving a Leg Up to Bootstrap Entrepreneurship:  Expanding Opportunity in America’s Urban Centers.  This publication from the Pioneer Institute discusses how the regulatory climate for very small, neighborhood-based businesses can have a significant influence on the economic dynamism of large American cities.  It includes case studies of the regulatory climate in Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles that discuss how regulations affect businesses in industries such as taxi drivers, hair care and catering. An interesting read for programs that support business start-up and growth in urban settings. (January 2001, 94 pages, authored by Samuel R. Staley, Howard Husock, David J. Bobb, H. Sterling Burnett, Laura Creasy and Wade Hudson.) 
• Navigating through Regulations & Licensing Requirements: A Guide for Boston Entrepreneurs in 20 Business Types. This publication provides specific information about the regulations and licenses required in Boston for 20 different types of businesses, including catering, child care, livery (taxi) services, and street vendors. The information for each business type can be downloaded separately. While specific to the city of Boston, this publication is an excellent example of a hands-on tool for entrepreneurs. (May 2005, 150 pages, authored by Adriana Nuñez, Alla Yakovlev, and Michael Kane). Similar guides for other Massachusetts cities are also available at:  http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/entre/publications/entre_publications.cfm.

Have additional resources to suggest? Email us at fieldus@aspeninstitute.org.