Making a Difference at Small Business Meeting : Conference: Delegates from California write or back 39 resolutions. A lobbying network is set up.

The 92 Southern California delegates who attended last week’s White House Conference on Small Business made a sizable impact, writing or pushing 39 of the 60 resolutions finally endorsed by the gathering of small business owners from around the country.

Now, the real work begins. Unlike the two previous conferences, which lacked a structure for implementing delegates’ resolutions, this one established a nationwide network of small business owners that will continue lobbying Congress and the Clinton Administration.

The Californians pushed through key technology proposals: One would create a one-stop national electronic clearinghouse with government information on patents, technological information, regulations, grant proposals and bidding procedures. Another called for continued funding for the Small Business Innovation Research Program, currently scheduled to end by the year 2000.

One of the environmental recommendations California backed would require assessments of the financial impact on small businesses of any mandatory environmental protection technology and if there should be a nationwide standardization of air pollution requirements.

Overall, the conference adopted a wide range of recommendations, from the simple and radical, such as a proposal for a flat tax, to sophisticated outlines and rules for small business investment vehicles. Among the resolutions:

* Continued support for affirmative action, despite last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision casting doubt on such set-aside programs for minorities.

* Creation of a Venture Capital Marketing Assn., a secondary market for pooled security investments in small businesses (which would be known as Vickie Mae) and function similarly to the Federal National Mortgage Assn., or Fannie Mae.

* Youth training in entrepreneurship with a National Institute for Entrepreneurship Education.

* A 100% tax deduction for health insurance premiums for the self-employed, to replace the current 25% deduction.

* Legislation to allow franchise owners in legal disputes to sue their parent corporation in the franchise owner’s state instead of the state where the company is based.

This year’s event, more than the 1980 and ’86 conferences, attracted political heavyweights--testimony, delegates said, to the increasing recognition of small business’ importance. President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) were among them.

“They talked our language and they heard us,” said California delegate C.K. Tseng, owner of Northridge Travel.