Rep. Joe Schmick receives NFIB award

A representative group for small businesses in Washington gave Rep. Joe Schmick a special commendation Jan. 30 at its 20th annual Small Business Day in Olympia.

“We have 147 senators and representatives who claim they’re friends of small business, but Rep. Joe Schmick’s actions prove it every single day,” said Patrick Connor, Washington state director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

“Among his many accomplishments for Main Street was making sure we had a voice in shaping the state’s new health-care exchange, which is ostensibly for the individual and small-business market. But until Rep. Schmick demanded a presence for small business, bureaucrats and big insurance companies treated the exchange as their exclusive play pen.”

Schmick is the assistant minority whip in the State House and ranking member of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee.