Local Business Taxes, Regulations, and Reduced Workforce

Floor Speech

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Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Luetkemeyer for yielding and arranging this very timely Special Order to discuss how taxes, increasing prices, and the reduced workforce pool are impacting our Main Street USA, which is the true backbone of our economy.

I represent California's 39th Congressional District, which lays in the tri-county area of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino Counties. I have the pleasure to represent one of the most diverse districts in the country that has a very vigorous entrepreneurial spirit. Unfortunately, it has been trampled down by unclear guidelines on lockdowns, increased red tape, labor shortages, high inflation, and, now, a supply chain crisis.

Mr. Luetkemeyer knows very well that a big threat is looming in the horizon in the form of increased taxes and burdensome regulations through the partisan reconciliation process.

Instead of working with us to tackle the issues impacting small business owners and workers, this administration and this House majority are looking to add more fuel to the fire with fiscal expansionary measures at a time when economic analysts say that we could see inflation above 3 percent well into 2022. This is a run on inflation not seen since the early 1990s.

In my home State of California, parts of the State recorded their highest average gas prices ever last Friday. Some places are recording close to $6 per gallon. This is all taking place when some of our colleagues in the majority are calling for a total domestic ban on gas and oil production, which would undeniably increase prices for all goods and services.

To add insult to injury, California recently released its jobs report showing the highest unemployment rate in the Nation, and unemployment claims keep increasing.

So let's ask ourselves: Why is California seeing an uptick in unemployment claims when NFIB is reporting over half of small businesses have job openings they cannot fill? Why is California seeing a record number of job creators leaving to establish their businesses in other States? The answer is very simple. Many are tired of Sacramento punishing entrepreneurial ventures through some of the highest taxes in the country and burdensome regulations.

Let's learn from the mistakes enacted in California and instead work to empower entrepreneurs, job creators, and Main Street. Let's get back to the path of prosperity, where we are not punishing success, and we make it easier for individuals and families to establish small businesses and serve the communities that we all love.

I want to thank, again, Ranking Member Luetkemeyer for his leadership on our Small Business Committee and for being a fearless advocate for Main Street USA and entrepreneurs all across the country.

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