Read NFIB Iowa State Director Matt Everson's Opinion Article
Matt Everson, NFIB State Director in Iowa, wrote an opinion piece defending the CARES Act. It appeared in the July 16th edition of the Des Moines Register.
Now is not the time to increase taxes on already hard-hit Iowans. The CARES Act allowed many small-business owners to get back to creating jobs and boosting Iowa’s economy.
There’s no doubt that the CARES Act has helped thousands of struggling small-business owners across Iowa. Recent data from the Small Business Administration shows that more than 58,000 small business have received money through the Paycheck Protection Program. That same data showed that, nationally, about 4.9 million small businesses were supported by the $521 billion in loans issued.
Let’s be clear: Small-business owners are still hurting, but thanks to the efforts of our senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, the CARES Act is law. Through its low-interest loans and grants, the CARES Act has not only helped small-business owners stay in business but allowed them to keep thousands of employees on the payroll, saving hundreds of thousands of jobs in Iowa in the near term. It’s also allowed small-business owners to bring employees back: Since the PPP funds went out, unemployment claims have dropped by more than 55,000.
Additionally, the CARES Act gives businesses the ability to use losses to offset income earned in previous years, which helps to provide businesses with much-needed cash flow to survive. This tax relief helps to smooth profits and losses across tax years and allows struggling small businesses to go back and reclaim some of the large taxes they paid in their good years. This is not a new policy, but rather an often-used policy to stabilize Main Street businesses during economic downturns. After 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the financial crisis in 2008, Congress allowed this tax benefit to help keep business afloat.
Grassley has received unfair criticism for his support of this provision — a provision that is providing important relief for Iowans who are on the verge of disaster. Most small-business owners are not millionaires, like some want you to believe — they drive rusty trucks, cut coupons, take a meager salary and put all of their profits back into their business. We should give our hardest-hit industries from the COVID-19 crisis, farmers, restaurants, and retailers every tool we can to help recover from this devastating catastrophe. Now is not the time to increase taxes on already hard-hit Iowans. The CARES Act is an important piece of legislation that has allowed many small-business owners to get back to doing what they do best: creating jobs and boosting Iowa’s economy.
You can find the article on the Des Moines Register’s website here.
