Talk of the debt limit has been circulating in the news during the discussions and negotiations between the White House and Congress. Final legislation is now under consideration as the U.S. Treasury Department’s stated June 5 deadline approaches, meaning the federal government will avoid being unable to pay its bills. The legislation does not include any tax increases or harmful proposals for small business owners.
The current debt limit is $31.4 trillion. The debt limit is the maximum amount that the government is legally allowed to borrow to pay its bills. To pay for past spending obligations authorized by Congress and the President, the U.S. Treasury Department can borrow more money only if the debt limit is raised by Congress.
Over the past couple months, Congress and the White House have negotiated raising the debt limit. In a recent Small Business Rundown podcast episode,NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg and Research Center Executive Director Holly Wade explained what the debt limit is and what it means for the small business economy. They also pointed to April’s Small Business Economic Trends survey, which showed small business owners aren’t optimistic about business conditions in the next six months. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index declined 1.1 points to 89.0, the 16th consecutive month below the 49-year average of 98.
As the final legislation is under consideration in the coming days, NFIB is optimistic that small businesses avoided any tax increases or other anti-small business policies. Learn more about the debt and debt ceiling by reading the NFIB Research Center’s one-pager here
