Tribute to Small Business Owners

Tribute to Small Business Owners
May 19, 2005

Recently I joined with a bipartisan majority of my House colleagues in passing H. Res. 22 expressing the sense of the U.S. House of Representatives that American small businesses are entitled to a Small Business Bill of Rights. The resolution passed on a voice vote, demonstrates the importance members of Congress place on small businesses.

Historically, small businesses have been the catalyst for economic growth and innovation through our country. More than 90% of all American employers are small businesses. Those same businesses employ over half of all private employment and three-quarters of new hiring each year. The majority of those companies have less than 100 employees.

I have a personal understanding of the importance of small businesses and their struggles. My wife, Lori, has been the president of her own business for 12 years. During that time I have watched a business that started on our kitchen table, and finally out-grew out of our home. Today she employs approximately a dozen full-time people and maintains a very hectic schedule. The stories she tells me about operating her business match tales I hear from many other small business owners from across Ohio's Third District.

Small businesses need a set of basic rights that, among other rights, will allow them to provide affordable healthcare for their employees; reduce the regulatory burden; reduce frivolous law suits and simplify the complicated tax system they must negotiate. The Small Business Bill of Rights expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that American small businesses are entitled to these rights.

Many small businesses struggle with health insurance costs or do not provide health insurance to employees. The House has passed several bills that would allow small businesses to band together to buy health care. This would allow many businesses to pool their purchasing power and make insurance affordable.

The tax code is exceedingly complex, making it difficult for small businesses to understand and comply with its requirements. Burdensome regulations and paperwork cost small businesses more than $5,500 per employee.

Frivolous lawsuits and the rising costs of liability insurance represent serious threats to many small business owners.

Because of the challenges all small business owners face, Congress should help by establishing a climate to encourage small businesses to create jobs and offer more affordable health insurance to employees.

Here is the Small Business Bill of Rights, which I believe small business owners are entitled to:

(1) The right to join together to purchase affordable health insurance for small business employees, who make up a large portion of the millions of Americans without health care coverage.

(2) The right to simplified tax laws that allow family-owned small businesses to survive over several generations and offer them incentives to grow.

(3) The right to be free from frivolous lawsuits which harm law-abiding small businesses and prevent them from creating new jobs.

(4) The right to be free of unnecessary, restrictive regulations and paperwork which waste the time and energy of small businesses while hurting production and preventing job creation.

(5) The right to relief from high energy costs, which pose a real threat to the survival of small businesses, to be accomplished by reducing the Nation's reliance on imported sources of energy and encouraging environmentally-sound domestic production and conservation of energy.

(6) The right to equal treatment, as compared to large businesses, when seeking access to start-up and expansion capital and credit.

(7) The right to open access to the Government procurement marketplace through the breaking up of large contracts to give small business owners a fair opportunity to compete for Federal contracts.

The Small Business Bill of Rights sets out important policy guidelines that will help small businesses in Ohio and all over the United States to grow. These rights will make it easier for small businesses to create jobs and keep the American economy growing.

http://www.house.gov/miketurner/news/columns/5.19.05.shtml