BISMARCK, N.D., Feb. 25, 2014—North Dakota small-business owners are split on tax incentives as a way to lure out-of-state corporations , according to one result from a poll released today by their largest representative group.
“Our members were evenly split on the issue of tax incentives,” said Daniel Markels, acting North Dakota state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s voice of small business. “Like their counterparts across the nation, many small-business owners have said the key to sound economies are low levels of taxation and regulations for all businesses, not just a select few. They are increasingly appalled when they see the Oregon Legislature hold a special session for the sole purpose of giving Nike a tax break or the Washington State Legislature doing the same for Boeing, all the while doing nothing for the small-business owners in those states who employ the majority of workers and generate almost every new job. Other NFIB members aren’t as troubled by tax incentives for the big boys and see it as a normal course of business legislatures conduct.”
Every year, NFIB polls its members on state and national issues vital to their ability to own, operate and grow their enterprises. Results from the poll center NFIB’s lobbying positions in Washington, D.C. and in Bismarck. NFIB has more than 2,200 members in North Dakota and releases its annual results after a statistically valid sample is reached. The 2014 NFIB State Member Ballot asked four questions:
Should the Legislature enact pension reform for newly hired state employees that would index the retirement age with life-expectancy tables?
Yes 69 percent
No 17 percent
Und. 14 percent
Do you support creating new tax incentives designed to attract out-of-state businesses to locate their corporate or division headquarters in North Dakota?
Yes 45 percent
No 46 percent
Und. 9 percent
Should the Legislature privatize certain state-government services?
Yes 64 percent
No 21 percent
Und. 15 percent
Should employers be prohibited from considering an applicant’s criminal history until after the interview process has concluded?
Yes 6 percent
No 92 percent
Und. 2 percent
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For more than 70 years, the National Federation of Independent Business has been the Voice of Small Business, taking the message from Main Street to the halls of Congress and all 50 state legislatures. NFIB annually surveys its members on state and federal issues vital to their survival as America’s economic engine and biggest creator of jobs. NFIB’s educational mission is to remind policymakers that small businesses are not smaller versions of bigger businesses; they have very different challenges and priorities.
