End of session holds out some hope of improved economic picture for Main Street enterprises
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Thor Stacey, Alaska State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
JUNEAU, Alaska, May 22, 2023—The state director for Alaska’s leading small-business association today praised the state’s lawmakers for ending their session on the best possible note—no new taxes.
“This was a nice gift to give our members on their association’s 80th birthday,” said Thor Stacey, Alaska state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s voice of small business since 1943. “No state budget will ever be to everyone’s liking, but the one just forged has enough positive elements in it to at least give small-business owners some relief.”
That relief, according to Stacey, not only comes in the form of no new taxes but also passage of a state spending plan that avoids the first ever state government shutdown had it not been produced by July 1. “Many small-business owners will tell you the one thing they’d like from their governments at all levels is predictability, so they can make better hiring and expansion plans,” said Stacey.
“No group of people in America have endured more than small-business owners, who are still crawling out of all that the pandemic brought in addition to subsequent labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and now inflation, I’m not sure how many could have survived both a state and federal government shutdown on top of all that, which is why the swift passage of a new state budget in a one-day special session is a much bigger deal than it appears at first glance. Alaska small businesses thank all the legislators who rallied to the challenge and solved it.”
Additional Information
- Click here for a brief video of NFIB President Brad Close thanking members for their involvement on the association’s 80th anniversary, which was May 20.
- Click here for NFIB’s latest monthly Small Business Economic Trends report (aka the Optimism Index), the gold standard measurement of America’s small business economy, used by the Federal Reserve Board, Congressional leaders, administration officials, and state legislatures across the nation.
- All NFIB research is a national snapshot not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs 10 people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year.
Keep up with the latest Alaska small-business news at www.nfib.com/alaska or by following NFIB Alaska on Twitter @NFIB_AK.
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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
NFIB Alaska
Box 211231
Juneau, AK 99821
907-723-1494
www.nfib.com/alaska
Twitter: @NFIB_AK
