Issue Position: Small Business

Issue Position

As a former small business owner, I recognize that small business is the engine of job growth in our country and the backbone of our economy. Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private work-force, generate half of the nation's gross domestic product and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy. The federal government's job is not to stifle the prosperity of these businesses through an onerous tax and regulatory system but to stay out of the way so that the transactions of a free market may take place. I continue to support legislation which gives small employers options to deal with the surging cost of health care; strives to keep taxes low; advocates for the SBA; encourages federal agencies to do more business with U.S. small businesses; and continues to fight burdensome and unnecessary federal regulations which hamper small business growth and job creation.

Recently I voted for an Economic Stimulus package that included provisions that would spur job growth and help out small business owners. Two provisions important to business include:

* Bonus Depreciation: The economic growth package will provide for a 50 percent bonus deduction on new equipment in the year it is placed in service, with certain exceptions for equipment with a "long life." This temporary tax cut offers significant savings on new property with a depreciation period of 20 years or less. This will give employers - particularly small businesses - greater incentive to invest and create jobs for more Americans searching for work. A previous temporary bonus depreciation, coupled with expensing measures enacted in May 2003, resulted in a four percent increase in business spending in the first six months alone.

* Section 179 Expensing: This provision allows employers, including small businesses, to fully expense $250,000 in both new and used tangible property in the year it is purchased up to an overall investment limit of $750,000. This will provide a particularly strong incentive for small companies to invest in their businesses so they can continue to provide good-paying jobs for the American people.

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