NFIB: Small Business Ballot Results Show Appetite for Big Reforms in 2019

Date: December 13, 2018

NFIB members in Tennessee are eager to support specific reform efforts for small business in the upcoming 111th Tennessee General Assembly, according to results from the organization’s 2019 statewide member survey and other recent member polls. NFIB is the state’s leading small business advocacy organization. The 2019 session begins Tuesday, Jan. 8.

“Recent survey results clearly show NFIB members want to see substantive tax reforms,” said NFIB Tennessee State Director Jim Brown, “while this year’s survey results show a continued appetite for cutting red tape and blocking or prohibiting unnecessary mandates. With a new administration and many new faces in the Tennessee legislature, 2019 will be a very important year.”

In last year’s survey, 88 percent of NFIB members responding believe Tennessee “should do more to provide vocational and technology training for high school students who are not college-bound.” In 2014, 67 percent supported phasing out the state’s professional privilege tax on 22 professions. NFIB is part of a coalition calling for elimination or a phase-out of the professional privilege tax and the amusement tax on small fitness centers, both of which are discriminatory.

Results from the latest NFIB Tennessee survey show:

  • 68 percent of respondents believe local governments in Tennessee should not be allowed to ban or regulate the use of plastic bags or other disposable packaging and containers, while 20 percent are in favor and 12 percent are undecided.
  • 81 percent believe each Tennessee resident should not be required to carry health insurance or pay a penalty, as some states are considering, while 11 percent are in favor and 8 percent are undecided.
  • 63 percent oppose Tennessee enacting legislation to prohibit employers from subjecting employees to workplace bullying and to establish written policies that define workplace bullying, while 23 percent favor and 14 percent are undecided. 

Brown said NFIB members across the state are encouraged Governor-elect Bill Lee and state legislators are prepared to focus on improving workforce development and vocational training programs. The problem of finding qualified workers continues to be the most significant for small businesses nationally, according to NFIB’s monthly Small Business Economic Trends surveys, mirroring ongoing feedback from Tennessee small business owners. 

“Small business owners are eager to roll up their sleeves and work with new leadership in the executive and legislative branches,” said Brown, noting many newly elected officials are NFIB members and small business owners. “Tennessee is one of the best states in which to own, operate and grow a business, but more work is needed to level uneven playing fields.”

 

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