OPINION:
Every member of Congress pledges to help small businesses. But now is the time for our nation’s leaders — on both sides of the aisle — to really deliver. This is the message that hundreds of small-business owners nationwide will deliver to Congress this week. My organization is bringing them to our nation’s capital because Main Street’s message is too important to ignore.
But small businesses are being ignored. The media are focused on rosy economic stories, such as a 40,000-point stock market and monthly jobs numbers that smash expectations. Yet the big stories almost always reflect what’s happening with Wall Street and big business.
Just listen to what small businesses are saying. They continue to tell us that inflation is their top concern, forcing them to raise prices. Yet inflation-driven price increases make it harder to compete with big businesses, which can absorb rising costs much more easily. The longer inflation remains stubbornly high, the less small businesses will be able to grow. Worse, some will be forced to close their doors.
Main Street can’t find the workers they need, either. Two in 5 small businesses have job openings they can’t fill. And an astounding 91% of small businesses report few or no qualified applicants for the jobs they are trying to fill.
Small businesses created two-thirds of new jobs over the past 25 years and want to keep being the engine of the economy. If Main Street had the support it needs, America would create record numbers of jobs a month.
Congress must help make that vision a reality. Lawmakers should relieve small businesses in two ways, avoiding a massive tax increase on the horizon and slashing excessive regulation. If they do that, Main Street will be better positioned to overcome inflation, create jobs, and drive America’s economic comeback.
The first and most important thing Congress should do is cut small businesses’ taxes permanently. The small-business deduction — the small-business centerpiece of the 2017 tax cuts — expires next year. If lawmakers allow that to happen, Main Street will face an unprecedented tax hike.
At least half of the nation’s small businesses are uncertain about their future. They’re holding back when they want to be ramping up. With disaster already beginning to unfold, Congress should act immediately.
If the small-business deduction were made permanent, 90% of local businesses would find it easier to invest in their workers and communities. All Congress needs to do is pass the bipartisan Main Street Tax Certainty Act. The small-business economic response would be immediate.
The second thing Congress should do is end a particularly burdensome mandate — the “beneficial ownership” reporting requirement. Created in 2021 and enforced since January, it’s 100% targeted at the smallest of small businesses, wrapping them in red tape while giving big business a pass.
Under this mandate, more than 32 million small businesses must regularly send private personal information about their owners to a federal database. If they don’t, they face up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Would any member of Congress like to tell a small-business owner that they deserve to go to prison over this?
A stunning 83% of small businesses don’t even know this requirement exists. They’re now at risk of heavy-handed punishment. Congress will have to build hundreds of prisons in response to a law that shouldn’t even exist. Congress can save small businesses by immediately passing the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act. It’s a commonsense solution that will empower Main Street to focus on growth, not government regulation.
Small businesses need action now. Each day that Congress waits makes it harder for small-business owners to deal with inflation, create jobs, and give back to their communities. Are lawmakers going to keep the promise they’ve all made to Main Street?
• Brad Close is president of the National Federation of Independent Business.
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