Main Street Raring to Go and Ready for Action
Contact Michelle Dimarob, (202)554-9000
On Friday, NFIB, the nation’s largest small-business group, concluded its 2004 National Small Business Summit and sent members home energized and activated for the upcoming political and legislative season.
“The late President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘I’m the second best lobbyist. The best lobbyists are the ones back home,’” said NFIB President Jack Faris as he commented on the conclusion of the three-day meeting between Main Street entrepreneurs and Washington’s policy and opinion leaders. “Well, I think he’d be proud of the multitude of small-business owners who traveled to Washington this week. As our summit concludes, many NFIB members are heading home to lobby their federal and state legislatures. Thanks to their activism, those lawmakers will have the first-hand knowledge they need to fully consider the small-business viewpoint when making important policy decisions.”
During the summit, NFIB members from across America heard from some of the nation’s most important leaders and decision makers, including: President of the United States George W. Bush,U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert,Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Small Business Administrator Hector Baretto and former White House Communications Director Karen Hughes.
Throughout the summit delegates had the chance to highlight important small-business priorities including:
- Controlling the skyrocketing cost of health care by allowing the creation of Small-Business Health Plans (also called Association Health Plans or AHPs), which would allow small businesses to band together across state lines to get better deals on health insurance;
- Making expensing limits permanent;
- Allowing workers to invest a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes in personal accounts;
- Making President Bush’s tax cuts permanent;
- Reducing regulatory burdens on small business.
Faris concluded, “NFIB will use this unified voice to influence both legislation and the political debate in this year’s elections. The polls show that small-business voters are a faithful and consistent voting bloc. Our goal is to use the voice of small business to elect leaders who are committed to providing small business with the tools necessary to move the American economy forward.”
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The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington and all 50 state capitals. For more information on NFIB visit www.NFIB.com. NFIB’s 2004 National Small Business Summit will be held June 16-18 in Washington, D.C. More information is available on-line at www.NFIB.com/summit.
