Minnesota Small Business Owners Express Concerns With Federal Build Back Better Act Legislation

Date: October 21, 2021

Minnesota NFIB members shared personal stories with Rep. Dean Phillips

NFIB members in Minnesota met virtually with Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) recently to share their concerns with the proposed Build Back Better Act, a federal bill being discussed at the nation’s capital. Small business owners shared their stories, telling the Minnesota representative the ways that the legislation would hurt their ability to create jobs and expand their business. Their concerns with the bill included the creation of new mandates, tax increases, and additional penalties.

Michael Flynn, a farmer and small business owners of Amish Market Square in Winona told Rep. Phillips that “limiting our financial resources by taxing capital gains and corporate taxes will directly reduce growth and employee funds used for raises and hiring options. Lack of employees is also a major problem now. We have reduced days open at our restaurant because of employee shortages.”

 

NFIB is encouraging our members to take action on our latest alert to join fellow business owners in sharing how tax increases and new mandates will impact your business. 

 

Click here to share your story: No New Mandates and Tax Increases on Small Business.

Neal Wunderlich of Wunderlich Malec Engineering in Eden Prairie also voiced concerns with the bill, specifically with how the new proposed mandates would negatively impact not only his small business, but the small business community as a whole because small business owners don’t have the same resources as large corporations to comply with the proposed additional HR and administrative requirements.

Sharon Asmus, small business owner of TPI Custom Solutions Inc, in Minneapolis echoed the sentiments of her fellow members and added her voice regarding the proposed tax increase. “This mandate will require further planning on the part of our small family run business. In order to pay these taxes I will have to reevaluate hiring and capital investments in order to afford these tax rates.”

Kimberly Thompson, of Kimberly Thompson Insurance Agency in Bloomington shared her story, saying that not only am I a small business owner myself, I also work with a lot of small business owners and I’m hearing that they’re having trouble finding qualified employees to hire and getting people back to work. Many of these small business owners are so concerned with the proposed tax increases that they’re considering getting out of the business all-together. She’s also hearing concerns about the proposed expansion of family medical leave. Small businesses don’t have a broad base of employees to spread out the work when people use FMLA like large businesses and often times, they have to take it on themselves. For most small businesses, their money is essentially in one pot so if the employer has to pay more for increased taxes or to comply with mandates, the money would come from either laying people off or reducing benefits to cover the additional costs.

Congressman Phillips told NFIB members that he is keeping an eye on the bill and the provisions that may adversely affect small businesses here in Minnesota. He recently sent a letter to House Democratic leaders expressing concerns with many of the proposed tax increases and the proposed early expiration of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).   

Related Content: Small Business News | Minnesota

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