From Federal to Local Courts, NFIB is Your Advocate

Date: June 06, 2019

Dear NFIB member,

June marks the start of summer, but it doesn’t bring a slowdown at NFIB. One area where we have been especially busy is in the courts.

In Washington, June is “Supreme Court Season,” when the court finalizes dozens of opinions. Every year, the NFIB Small Business Legal Center is involved in cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals, and state appellate courts across the country in order to ensure our members have the freedom to run and grow their businesses. (You can learn more about our Legal Center here, where we provide the latest news and offer regular tips and advice, like why you might want to implement a drug-free workplace policy.)

Already this year, the Small Business Legal Center has filed 27 briefs in federal and state courts across the country, including 10 in the U.S. Supreme Court. Recently, our legal team urged the Supreme Court to hear a small business owner’s case – one in which he was contesting subpoenas in a tax investigation.

In federal court, the Small Business Legal Center joined a lawsuit challenging an EEOC regulation that mandated yet more reporting and more paperwork from our members.

Our biggest influence comes from NFIB members themselves who share firsthand how policies affect businesses and their employees. Rod Dion, a New York member, described in an opinion editorial for NY Business Journal how a single-payer health care system would negatively affect his small business. Connecticut member Chip Becket spoke to his local news station about an issue that affects so many of our members: paid family and medical leave.

In Washington, we remain vigilant, as well. Congress recently introduced The Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (H.R. 2513), under the banner of security. This new legislation threatens to undermine millions of small businesses. If it’s not stopped, the Corporate Transparency Act would require small businesses to gather and report even more information to the government. And this data could be accessed by federal, state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies for almost any reason and without a subpoena, raising serious privacy concerns.

NFIB wrote to the House Committee on Financial Services, expressing our concern and urging lawmakers to consider the impact this bill would have on small businesses. Large companies and financial institutions may have teams of lawyers and compliance consultants to help gather this information and report it to the government. However, “the paperwork burden, civil and criminal penalties, and risks to privacy directly threaten law-abiding American small businesses.”

I’m encouraging all of you to call your Congressman and urge them to oppose H.R. 2513.

This summer we will continue fighting for our NFIB members on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in the media to ensure independent businesses can succeed. Together we will continue to ensure that America’s small business voice is heard.

Sincerely,

 

Juanita D. Duggan, NFIB President

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