In an op-ed for The Eagle, Small Business Owner Claudia Smith calls on Congress to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Repealing the CTA will end the burdensome Beneficial Ownership requirements for more than 32 million small businesses and protect their privacy.

Smith described the steep penalties that small business owners could face under a future administration if the CTA mandate is not fully repealed or ruled unconstitutional.

“I only found out about this mandate because someone else told me about it. I’m glad he did, because if I didn’t comply with it, I’d face up to two years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Who in Congress thought that was a good idea?” Smith wrote. “No sane lawmaker would support a bill that’s an outright assault on small businesses but no one else. Large corporations are completely exempted. Wall Street gets a pass, while Main Street gets punished.”

Smith continued, urging Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to support repealing the CTA mandate.

“I urge him to support the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act. His Texas colleague, Senator Ted Cruz, is already a cosponsor. Now we need our senior senator to join him.”

CLICK HERE to read the full op-ed. Excerpts are below:

‘Beneficial Ownership’ Report Leaves Businesses Vulnerable

The Eagle

By Claudia Smith

March 20, 2026

I don’t know who’s going to win the primary runoff between Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, but I do know that regardless of the outcome, Sen. Cornyn needs to protect small businesses like mine from government overreach. […]

Thanks to a little-known law passed by Congress in 2021, we’ve been forced to report so-called “beneficial ownership” information to the feds. Essentially, we must hand over the details of who owns the business, what percentage they own and plenty of personal information to boot.

This mandate would be bad enough if it stopped there. […] But the mandate doesn’t stop there. All the sensitive data we must turn over goes straight into a federal database. It’s basically begging for some hacker or foreign government to steal it. […]

The whole point of the mandate is to stop crime like money laundering. But is a criminal really going to be stupid enough to comply with a law designed to catch him? Of course not. […]

Worst of all, we’re the ones being treated like criminals. I only found out about this mandate because someone else told me about it. I’m glad he did, because if I didn’t comply with it, I’d face up to two years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Who in Congress thought that was a good idea? […]

No sane lawmaker would support a bill that’s an outright assault on small businesses but no one else. Large corporations are completely exempted. Wall Street gets a pass, while Main Street gets punished. […]

The only good news is that the Trump administration temporarily took out the ammunition by saying it wouldn’t enforce this foolish policy, and, according to the Office of Management and Budget, that action was President Trump’s largest deregulation act of 2025. But the law is still on the books. […]

This is where Cornyn can lead. I urge him to support the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act. His Texas colleague, Senator Ted Cruz, is already a cosponsor. Now we need our senior senator to join him. […]

I realize Sen. Cornyn is fighting for his political life. I just hope he also has time to fight for the small businesses that keep Texas alive.