WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 19, 2026) – NFIB Director of Federal Government Relations Josh McLeod joined C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Monday to discuss the current state of the small business economy and the top issues that are impacting Main Street. McLeod explains how the 20% Small Business Deduction has helped small business owners and why Congress needs to repeal Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements.

Watch the full interview here.

On the 20% Small Business Deduction being made permanent:

“So, you have a lot of small businesses that were facing that threat of a potential tax increase. And the fact that that is gone, like I said, huge, huge relief to them. It’s allowed them to invest and hire folks. So, it’s a big deal but that was going to expire at the end of 2025. So, the fact that there is that certainty has been a huge boom for small businesses.”

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“They can hire new employees, we have a lot of members that are providing health insurance through those savings, we have a huge amount from those tax savings, people buying new machinery, expanding their business, a new facility. You name it, they’re doing it. So, we’ve got incredible, incredible stories that we’ve been hearing from small businesses about what exactly they’re doing with that tax savings so really great, really great to see.”

On Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting:

“One of our big issues that we’re working on right now is regarding the Corporate Transparency Act, a law that is well-intentioned, intended to get money laundering out of the financial system. We certainly agree with those goals. However, it’s a massive, massive new regulatory net that’s pulled in $32.6 million small businesses. And that way the law defines small businesses is anyone under 20 employees, and $5 million in revenue. So, that’s all small businesses right there. And so, they now are required to register with the federal government, with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is a part of Treasury. 32.6 million small businesses were required to file. If they did not file, it was up to a $10,000 fine and two years in prison. So, not a little minor slap on the wrist here. We were looking at pretty serious penalties for a lot of small businesses and only 16 million did register. And so, the Trump Administration came in and said, ‘Well, we got a problem here. We’ve got to pump the brakes on this.’ And thankfully they did. So, they came in March of 2025 and said, ‘We’re going to exempt U.S. businesses, this is invasive, it’s egregious, it’s an economic menace to small businesses, they’re exempt.’ So now you have 32 million small businesses that do not have to worry about this burdensome regulation for right now. It could come back after under a future administration, which is why we’re trying to get Congress to act and provide that certainty to our members.”