NFIB

6.14.2002
SBA Administrator Outlines Small Business Initiatives

SBA Administrator Hector Barreto outlined his small business initiatives for delegates at the NFIB National Small Business Summit. Barreto stressed that the government's role "is not to create wealth; the role of the government is to create an environment where entrepreneurs are willing to take risks."

To help create that environment, Barreto outlined some of the SBA's initiatives: continuing to offer tax incentives to small businesses; increasing small business deductions; tearing down regulatory barriers that stymie job creation; insuring that small businesses have access to $210 billion of government procurement; providing timely information to small business owners; and providing small business owners with access to affordable and comprehensive healthcare for themselves and their employees.

Barreto also urged small business owners to take advantage of other SBA resources, like the Office of the National Ombudsman (www.sba.gov/ombudsman), the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, the Supplementary Terrorist Activity Relief program (STAR) and others.

The SBA recently celebrated National Small Business Week, honoring small business owners from around the U.S. Barreto told the story of the Small Business Owner of the Year, Thanh Quoc Lam who came as a refugee to Hawaii and has worked to build a business for himself. He is now the president of Ba-Le, Inc. & Ba-Le Sandwich & Bakery, a retailer of Vietnamese-style sandwiches, pastries and noodle dishes, and a wholesaler of baked goods and deli sandwiches to airlines, food caterers, hotels, supermarkets and restaurants throughout Hawaii. "It's a story you can relate to, it's a story of great vision and dedication," Barreto said.

Barreto, who grew up working for a small business, praised the Bush administration's tax cuts and recent accomplishments with the IRS - like the implementation of the cash accounting method and the elimination of duplicative corporate return forms. He also promised to continue fighting for the permanent repeal of the death tax. "We've had some setbacks but we're not done," he said. "We're going to stay on the job."



Chao Vows Labor Department Will Help Small Business Comply With Rules and Regs

WASHINGTON--Labor Secretary Elaine Chao today promised small business owners that her agency will work more closely with Main Street America to protect workers without targeting employers.

"There is a new culture of responsibility being built at the Department of Labor to help you understand the exhaustive list of rules and regulations," Chao told delegates at the NFIB National Small Business Summit.

Chao announced the DOL's new policy of providing assistance to small business owners through the creation of a new department dedicated to helping employers and an anonymous hotline to answer compliance questions.

See video of Sec. Chao talking about the unfairness of government regulations on small business. (1 1/2 minutes)

"It's not fair you can be driven out of business for not complying with something you didn't even know about," said Chao.

The Labor Secretary promised the anonymous hotline "did not have caller ID," relieving business owners' concern that they would be targeted for inspection because they sought help.

"Your call will not be treated as a tip for enforcement," she said.

Chao said the agency's culture will change from viewing business owners as enemies to viewing them as partners and that in the quest to protect workers, "NFIB and other employer groups are viewed as allies."



NFIB Hails Labor Department's `Helping Hand'

WASHINGTON--The small-business group NFIB today applauded Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's announcement at the National Small Business Summit that her department is stepping up efforts to provide regulatory assistance to Main Street businesses.

"For too long, federal agencies have played a game of `Gotcha' with well-meaning small businesses when they unsuccessfully tried to comply with complex regulations," said NFIB President Jack Faris. "We've long supported a helping hand rather than a menacing fist, and Secretary Chao today truly extended that helping hand to small business."

In a speech to Summit delegates, Chao announced that she is adding a new senior Labor Department position, the director of compliance assistance, who will help small-business owners understand how to abide by federal regulations. Other helping hands include a new small-business office at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and a new call center where small-business owners can get information without fear of being targeted for investigation. Small businesses will also now be allowed to see the handbooks that federal inspectors use when they investigate workplaces.

Faris said the new initiatives should make a real difference for small-business owners, who are especially hard hit by complex and constantly changing regulatory laws.

"Small businesses don't have compliance departments or teams of lawyers to sift through the Federal Register and figure out how to do everything exactly the way Washington tells them to do it on that particular day," Faris said. "Having the Labor Department fill that role will help make small businesses even safer and more efficient places to work."

Chao made her announcement on the third day of the 2002 National Small Business Summit. Summit delegates last night heard from Vice President Dick Cheney, who praised the entrepreneurs in the audience for their contributions to the economy and the fight for tax relief.

"The president, obviously, understands very well the free enterprise system and respects the men and women who make it go," Cheney said. "And I want to thank the members of this organization for the indispensable contribution to the debate in Washington. For example, last year, you were an absolutely vital ally in passing the largest tax reduction since the Reagan administration."



Vice President Commends NFIB's Influence

See video of Vice President Cheney discussing the grassroots power of NFIB.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney recognized NFIB as an influential force to be reckoned with, addressing 600 small business owners in his keynote address at the NFIB National Small Business Summit gala dinner last night.

"The NFIB represents grassroots advocacy at its finest," Cheney told the summit delegates, gathered at the historic National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. "For 59 years this organization has brought the common sense of Main Street to the halls of Washington."

Cheney spoke of the need for health care reform, and the president's support of AHPs, or association health plans, as a solution to skyrocketing health care costs for small business owners. He also said the administration supported permanent repeal of the death tax, as well as permanency for the other tax cuts passed last year.

"Congress should act this year to make the President's tax cuts permanent," Cheney told a cheering crowd. "We're going to bring up this measure again until we've abolished the death tax once and for all."

Cheney also spoke of the need to simplify the tax code, as well as permit small businesses to have interest bearing checking accounts.

The evening included a performance by Grammy Award-winning singer Lee Greenwood.



6.13.2002
Secretary of the Treasury Stresses Importance of Tax Code Reform

WASHINGTON--Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told 600 small business owners at the NFIB National Small Business Summit that he aims to implement fundamental tax code reform to help small business owners.

O'Neill credited small business owners with helping the economy grow after the downturn of recent months. He stressed the importance of fundamental tax code reform in continued growth, saying "Small business suffers disproportionately trying to comply with the tax code."

"A 9,500-page tax code is an abomination. We need a tax system that ordinary human beings can understand without an advisor. We need a tax system that's clear about what the taxes do, easy to figure out and [where] everyone pays their fair share."

O'Neill also promised to continue fighting for permanent death tax repeal. "Innovative entrepreneurs deserve to pass on their life's earning to their children, not to the government," he said.

O'Neill, who recently returned from a trip to Africa, said his time there helped him further appreciate entrepreneurship in the United States.

See video of Sec. O'Neill discussing reforms needed in the tax code. (1 1/2 minutes)

"Any person with courage can make their dreams and aspirations come true," he said. "Successes are too rare in other countries."

The Bush Administration will continue its agenda to help small businesses succeed, O'Neill said.

"We know--I know, that prosperity is built one shop at a time," he said.



Hastert Urges Small Business to Continue Fight for Permanent Death Tax Repeal

WASHINGTON--U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL-14) today told delegates attending the NFIB National Small Business Summit that their common sense and tenacity are needed to make change on Capitol Hill. Hastert, who grew up in a small business family in northern Illinois, has overseen several small business friendly measures in the House in recent months.

Hastert listed ways that Congress is working to help small business owners, including pension plans for small business employees, medical savings accounts and eliminating the death tax. The House has voted twice this spring to end the death tax, but yesterday a minority of senators blocked permanent repeal of the tax for the year. Hastert told delegates not to give up fighting for permanent death tax repeal.

"You ought to be able to send that common sense message to Washington, D.C.," he said. "The status quo is not good enough. You can't tell it just once, you've got to tell it over and over and over again."

See video of Speaker Hastert discussing small business and the continuing fight for permanent death tax repeal. (1 min.)

Hastert likened NFIB's struggle for death tax repeal with his own challenge of passing an economic stimulus package--a package passed four times by the House, but rejected repeatedly by the Senate. After months of work, the Senate eventually passed a package.

"You represent the common sense of Main Street in this country," Hastert said. "Don't be disheartened that you've had one death tax defeat in the Senate."



Evans, Rove, Hastert, O'Neill Pledge To Continue Push for Permanent Tax Relief

Small-Business Owners To Meet With Vice President Cheney Tonight

WASHINGTON--Delegates at NFIB's National Small Business Summit today heard some of Washington's most influential officials pledge to continue the push to make last year's tax relief permanent. A day after a minority in the U.S. Senate blocked a permanent repeal of the death tax, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill all said the fight is far from over.

"Mark my words: as long as George W. Bush has a voice and a veto pen, he will not surrender this hard-fought ground," Secretary Evans told Summit delegates. "Far from surrendering, the president is determined to make the tax cuts permanent!"

Secretary O'Neill echoed that pledge and specifically called for a continuation of efforts to permanently repeal the death tax.

"We will continue to fight to ensure that you can pass on to your families the results of your life's labor, and to ensure that your thriving employees can continue to employ American workers and create prosperity," O'Neill said.

In his address, Rove gave credit to NFIB for helping make the difference in building support for last year's tax relief.

"I saw NFIB change hearts and minds in the Capitol, and that's the reason we got (tax relief) last year - just when the economy needed it the most," Rove said.

The afternoon's final speaker, Hastert, also talked about his work as the Speaker of the House to provide tax relief for Main Street, saying, "Small business is what makes this country work."

Summit delegates will top off this star-studded day by hearing from Vice President Dick Cheney at tonight's gala dinner at the National Building Museum.



NFIB Members Blanket Capitol Hill During National Small Business Summit

WASHINGTON--Small business owners went to Capitol Hill this afternoon to talk with their lawmakers about issues that affect Main Street America. Delegates to the NFIB National Small Business Summit visited lawmakers at their offices in Washington, D.C., to explain how government actions affect the way they run their business.

See video of NFIB President Jack Faris discussing the power of NFIB and how it selects its positions on critical small business issues. (1 min.)

With more than 600 members in town for the Summit, NFIB plans to show lawmakers why CNBC named it the most powerful lobbying group in Washington, D.C.

"Your presence here in Washington is felt in every corner," Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans told delegates during this morning's opening general session.

Ken Blair, owner of 33-year-old Circle Transport in Newbury, Ohio, planned to focus on permanent death tax repeal and cutting taxes during his visit with Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio.

"It's important to visit lawmakers face-to-face because we're the ones who vote, and we influence a lot of votes among our family and friends, too," Blair, who employs 35 people, said.

NFIB members hold a lot of clout in Washington, D.C., because of the large network they represent.

"Small business has a lot of allies," Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) told NFIB members during a luncheon address today. "Small business has a huge majority in this country. You ought to be able to send the message from where you are back to Washington, D.C."



NFIB Members Learn Grassroots Skills at the National Small Business Summit 

WASHINGTON--NFIB members today arrive in our nation's capital for the NFIB National Small Business Summit. During the next three days, members will hear from important government officials and learn how they can take the small business agenda back to their hometowns during this important election year.

"As small business owners, we all have the same problems," said Ray Fertis, owner of Cheyenne, Wash.-based Five-R and member of the Washington Leadership Trust.

Fertis and his wife, Idonna, are attending the NFIB National Small Business Summit, learning valuable grassroots lessons to use during this fall's elections.

"NFIB carries so much weight, because we speak with a collective voice, rather than alone," Fertis said. "If we have a problem in our business, NFIB is the place we come to solve it."

With the House and Senate divided so narrowly between small-business friends and foes, grassroots efforts at the local level are more important this year than ever.

White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove spoke this morning during the opening general session. He encouraged delegates to contact their lawmakers when they're in Washington, D.C., and when they're back in their home states.

"You'd be surprised at the impact you can have if you make an effort to do just that," Rove said.



Rove: Bush Administration Working To Create Good Environment for Business

Small business creates the jobs that fuel the economy, and the Bush Administration is working to decrease taxes and regulations, which will create the right environment to support it, White House Senior Adviser Karl Rove told delegates at the NFIB National Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C. this morning.

"Government doesn't create the wealth," Rove said. "It creates the conditions in which risk-takers and entrepreneurs can do so, and then it gets out of the way. Wealth is created by small business people and entrepreneurs."

See video of Rove discussing NFIB's political power, grassroots strength and the importance of the NFIB Member Ballot.

Rove said NFIB's commitment to grassroots involvement is critical and said it made a big difference in last summer's tax relief vote.

"You went to work. I saw what NFIB did in changing the hearts and minds of the Senate, and we got it just in time for an economy that was sinking," he said. "You sent emails and letters, you put the phone number of your congressman and your senator on speed dial. You put your shoulder to the wheel."

Bush's small business agenda includes making permanent the tax cuts passed last summer, including the death tax, Rove said. Yesterday the Senate voted 54-44 on the Gramm-Kyl amendment for permanent death tax repeal, but it needed 60 votes to pass. Rove said his own years in business had taught him how frightening the death tax could be.

"You and I both know what kind of gyrations you go through to plan for succession of your business," he said. "I was shocked when my accountant walked in and said, 'You've got to pay this big chunk of change on an insurance policy every year.'"

Rove said death tax supporters will often try to convince people that the redistribution of wealth through the death tax is beneficial to taxpayers.

"Tell that son or daughter this benefits them, when they've got to pay the death tax, when you're land-rich and cash-poor," he said.

See video of Rove discussing the need for controlled government spending.

The president is also mindful of the regulations and government red tape that burden small business and is committed to reducing them, Rove said.

"He's told his OMB (Office of Management and Budget) director to unbundle his contracts so small business has more of a chance to bid on contracts," Rove said. "When it comes to regulation, he wants sound science and simple regulation."



Evans: Preserving Small Business Tax Relief a Priority

The Bush administration recognizes the vital role small business plays in the nation's economy and will continue to fight to protect them, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans told small business owners this morning at the NFIB National Small Business Summit.

"Your presence here in Washington is felt in every corner," he said. Evans was optimistic that small business owners would soon have permanent relief from the death tax, despite the Senate's narrow defeat yesterday of the Gramm-Kyl amendment, which would have made Bush's tax cuts permanent.

"The Bush tax cut is in my view the greatest domestic accomplishment of the president's first term," Evans said. "As long as George W. Bush has a voice and a veto pen, he will not surrender this hard fought ground."

Evans scoffed at death tax supporters who think small business owners are taking advantage.

"Nobody puts blood, sweat and tears into building a business for themselves," he said. "They do it for their children."

"Now is not the time to repeal it, it's the time to make it permanent."

As former small business owners, Evans said that he and Bush understood the needs of entrepreneurs to have the freedom and flexibility to run their businesses without government regulations.

"The President knows from his own life experience where you come from," he said. "He knows that sometimes the most helpful thing government can do is get out of the way."