03/19/2002
The nation's largest small-business group, NFIB, today said President Bush's new small-business agenda is the right plan to help Main Street create new jobs and lead a strong economic recovery, and called on Congress to swiftly pass the legislative components of Bush's proposal.
The president unveiled his small-business agenda at a meeting of women entrepreneurs in Washington today.
"When this plan is enacted into law, it will be a huge home run for Main Street," said NFIB Senior Vice President Dan Danner. "Over the past year, NFIB members have testified at congressional hearings in support of almost every single one of the items on the president's new small-business agenda. It's great to see that the president's been listening to their concerns."
President Bush's new small-business agenda includes relief for Main Street on a number of fronts:
- Tax relief. The president's plan calls for making last year's death-tax repeal permanent; it is currently scheduled to rise from the dead in 2011. Other tax-relief measures include increasing current small-business expensing limits and allowing more small businesses to use the simpler cash method of accounting.
- Affordable health care. The president wants to allow small-business owners and employees to band together across state lines and form Association Health Plans (AHPs), which would save Main Street between 15-30 percent on their health-insurance costs and help approximately eight million currently uninsured Americans to finally afford coverage.
- Regulatory relief. The president's plan also calls to strengthen the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) Office of Advocacy to make sure that small business' interests are fully considered when new regulations are considered.
- Business interest checking. The president supports lifting outdated laws and regulations that prevent small businesses from earning interest on their checking account balances.
- Fairness in bidding for federal contracts. Finally, President Bush's agenda calls for much-needed fairness for small business in the government contract bidding process. This includes instructing the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report on how to make the contracting process more fair for small business and whenever possible, to end the practice of "contract bundling," or packaging many smaller contracts together, thereby sizing out many smaller contractors.
"It's great that the president understands the importance of small business to the national economy," Danner said. "Most of America's economic growth, innovation and job creation happens on Main Street - not Wall Street - and the president's plan recognizes that fact. NFIB looks forward to helping build support with members of both parties for these proposals as they work their way through the halls of Congress."
CONTACT: Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-9000
