NFIB's Response to 2010 Budget Conference Report (House)
April 29, 2009
Dear Representative,
On behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s largest small business advocacy organization, I am writing in opposition to S. Con. Res. 13, the fiscal year 2010 budget conference report.
NFIB is discouraged that the conference report does not contain more relief for small businesses, but instead places more burdens on them. The March small business optimism index hit the second lowest reading in the 35-year history of the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) survey, with plans to hire and make capital expenditures at or near an all-time low. Small business is the source of job creation, but economic growth will be stalled if Congress continues unchecked spending while increasing taxes and placing new mandates on America’s job creators.
Specifically, NFIB is concerned the conference report assumes the top individual tax rates will expire, which would mean a tax increase for some small business owners. Increasing audits and the tax filing burden as a way to close the tax gap would be a direct hit on small businesses. In addition, despite bipartisan support in the Senate for additional relief from the estate tax, this help for small business was removed in the conference.
We are also concerned that considering healthcare legislation under the reconciliation process will lead to a bill that does not generate bipartisan support. Essential to the long-term economic stability of our nation’s small businesses is the need to address the unsustainable, ever-increasing costs of healthcare. However, reforming the healthcare system is a large undertaking impacting all Americans and – as we have stated repeatedly – must be a bipartisan effort.
The budget conference report does not contain the right policy direction for our nation’s small businesses, and I encourage you to vote against it.
Sincerely,
Susan Eckerly
Senior Vice President
Public Policy