12/17/2007
CONTACT: Tom Jones, 307-635-8524 or Tony Malandra, 415-664-9685
Ballots fanning out this week
CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- There is more than just the holiday season upon us. For Wyoming members of America's leading small-business advocacy group, the National Federation of Independent Business, it also is the voting season, as ballots on the issues that matter to them most fan out this week.
Unique among most organizations, NFIB centers its state and federal lobbying positions on what its members tell it are vital to their survival as entrepreneurs. Results from the ballots are communicated to the public, media, and policymakers -- many of whom consider responses to the ballot to be the true voice of small business.
"We must constantly remind all stakeholders in an economy that small businesses are not smaller versions of big businesses, but instead have different difficulties in remaining solvent," said Tom Jones, NFIB/Wyoming state director. "Among those differences are the facts that small businesses pay almost twice as much as big businesses do to comply with the same regulations and that personal -- not corporate -- tax rates matter more to smaller entrepreneurs."
Jones said another major difference between small and large businesses can be found in this year's Wyoming ballot, too: health care. While almost all big companies and corporations provide health care for their employees, less than half of small-business owners can afford to do so. One of the five questions on the 2008 NFIB/Wyoming member ballot asks is if employers should be required to provide health care for their employees or pay into a state fund for the purposes of insuring them.
Rounding out the remaining ballot are questions asking if Wyoming should tighten its corporate and LLC laws; if cost-of-living adjustments should be made for those on workers' compensation; if the state should apply the sales tax on vehicle at the point of purchase; and whether or not toll roads and toll lanes should be created to help finance the state budget.
NFIB/Wyoming members can vote by mail, fax, online or by e-mail through one-click. After a 5 percent return of ballots, NFIB/Wyoming will publicize the results in January or shortly before the Wyoming Legislature convenes on Feb. 11. A ballot on federal issues will be sent to NFIB/Wyoming members in February.
