Issues that directly impact your business are front and center in Washington, and NFIB and your Small Business Legal Center are in the thick of the fight.
The Legal Center scored a very significant Supreme Court victory when the court declared that Maryland’s attempt to double tax residents is indeed unconstitutional. The state was taxing income earned out of state and already taxed out of state, and refusing to offer a full tax credit.
NFIB’s legal team argued that the state is required to provide tax credits under the Commerce Clause in order to avoid double taxation, and the Supreme Court agreed! Maryland’s aggressive and unconstitutional income tax law was a clear unconstitutional burden on the interstate commerce of small business owners, and this victory will ensure that no state can implement double taxation schemes.
In Washington, D.C., the Obama administration announced its most outrageous regulatory overreach yet when the EPA issued its final Waters of the U.S. rule. Under the guise of clean water, the EPA is attempting to massively expand its regulation of everyday business activities, allowing the agency to regulate ditches, dry creek beds and seasonal waters on your property.
Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with making our drinking water safer–after all, what small business owner doesn’t want clean water? In reality, the administration is using the smokescreen of clean water to attempt an unconstitutional expansion of the EPA’s power, seizing oversight of land issues that are currently governed by state environmental departments and local governments.
The administration wants to do this with the hammer of massive fines on business owners and individuals to the tune of up to $37,500 per day. How many small businesses can stay in operation facing fines of that magnitude? Rest assured, NFIB will be front and center defending your rights and will fight this unconstitutional power grab all the way to the Supreme Court.
Your Legal Center has also filed suit in Texas to prevent the National Labor Relations Board from implementing plans to rush the union election process, allowing union organizers to notify small business owners only days before a workplace election to organize their employees. Typically, employers have had an average of 30 days to prepare for a union election and educate their employees. With the new “Ambush Election” rule, they will have as few as 10 days. Unions already win more than 60 percent of union elections, and this rule tilts the playing field even more.
We’ll keep you up to date as this and other cases move forward. In the meantime, please follow us on Twitter @NFIB to stay involved and be a part of our big voice for small business.
Dan Danner, NFIB President and CEO
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