OLYMPIA, Wash., April 17, 2014—Which state legislators were friends or menaces to Main Street? The answers can be found in the 2013-2014 legislative voting record on 19 bills of importance to small business released today by the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s Voice of Small Business.
“Lawmakers love to tell the good people back home they are a friend of small business, but our voting record shows who really stands with Main Street when it matters most,” said Patrick Connor, Washington state director for NFIB. “For the 19 key votes on which we ranked lawmakers, the state Senate was a much better chamber for mom-and-pop enterprises. The state House, regrettably, was too often a graveyard for legislation beneficial to the entrepreneurs who employ more Washingtonians and generate vastly more new jobs than big business or big government does. In fact, the current House majority was downright hostile to our state’s leading job creators – small businesses – while working overtime to pass sweetheart deals for its favored few special interests.”
Fifteen state senators voted for small business 100 percent of the time, four only 10 percent, and the rest were in between. In the House, 32 representatives had perfect small-business voting records, 37 scored only a 10 percent rating. The 19 bills, their brief descriptions and how each lawmaker voted on them can be found here.
Reporters and editorial writers wanting more back ground on what a small business is, what distinguishes it from big business, the power of the small business vote, and other vital information can find it at a specially designed web page to provide quick information.
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.
National Federation of Independent Business/Washington
711 Capitol Way South, Suite 505
Olympia, WA 98501
Twitter: @NFIB_WA
