The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Pennsylvania’s leading small business advocacy organization, released the following statement from NFIB Pennsylvania State Director Greg Moreland ahead of the new Pennsylvania General Assembly session:

“As the General Assembly convenes today, small businesses throughout the Commonwealth are managing rising business costs, hiring challenges, and burdensome regulations. It’s important that lawmakers this session avoid legislation that would further exacerbate those challenges and instead focus on policies that will ignite economic growth.”

NFIB’s latest research shows that small business optimism rose in December to the highest reading since June 2021 following the election. Twenty percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input and labor costs), down three points from October and surpassing labor quality as the top issue by one point.