NFIB

Contact: Michelle Bolton (602) 263-7690 or Tony Malandra (415) 664-9685

State delegation front and center for health-care remarks

An Arizona delegation of six small-business owners heard directly from President Bush today on the issues vital to not only their survival, but to the health of the nation’s economy as well.

Small-business owners produced 100 percent of all net new jobs, according to the latest research by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. But small-business owners have distinctly different difficulties in remaining solvent than do larger companies. One such difficulty is the cost of providing health care for themselves and their employees. Annual double-digit increases in health insurance premiums for the past five years have contributed to the stunning fact that 60 percent of Americans without health care come from homes where someone either owns or works for a small business.

Touching on one of the most important issues for Main Street, President Bush argued forcefully for passage of a Senate bill that would allow small-business owners to band together across state lines in order to form the same large purchasing pools for health care that are allowed to big business, big labor, and big government. The proposal, S. 545, has passed the U.S. House of Representatives seven times, and the President has said he would sign the bill into law should it ever make it out of the Senate.

The Arizona delegation is in Washington D.C. to take part in NFIB’s biennial National Small Business Summit. The delegation also heard from U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans, U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The delegation includes small-business owners from Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, and Scottsdale. For further comment from the delegates, please phone the NFIB media room at 202 624-1707, 1708, 1709, 1710, or 415 994-3509 (cell).

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