The Impact Of Health Care Reform On Small Business In America

Floor Speech

The Impact Of Health Care Reform On Small Business In America

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Well, it certainly will have.

First of all, I thank my good friends--both of my colleagues from Colorado--and I thank Mr. Coffman for hosting this very important session tonight because what we're talking about is truly the economic engine of this country, and that's small business. Small business is so important. It has been and always has been our economic engine. You know, small businesses employ half of the workforce, and they create 72 percent of all new jobs.

Old fables would refer to small businesses as the geese that laid the golden eggs, and last month, unfortunately, we lost 263,000 jobs in this country.

Now, we normally would encourage small business, with incentives, to help the economy and to grow those jobs and to maintain those good family-sustaining jobs--jobs that provide health care benefits in most of those positions. Well, unfortunately, instead, the Democrats are going to tax the few golden eggs that are left and will probably kill the goose.

According to data from the IRS, more than half of those targeted under the Democrats' health care surtax are small business owners. When you look at those businesses that are organized as S corporations or as limited liability corporations, they constitute over 60 percent of individuals who file their taxes as individuals who are making over $200,000. These are small businesses. Out of those moneys, they pay a payroll every week. Then there will be the $208 billion in new taxes on businesses that can't afford to pay now for their employees' health care.

I was in the little town of Emporium, which is in Cameron County. It's a great county. It's in the middle of my district. Unfortunately, unemployment there is significant. Cameron County unemployment is among the highest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

I was there. I was with a young lady who was an entrepreneur. She was somebody who had that American dream, that drive to strive for something better. She had created this small business, and she had a payroll she was maintaining. In fact, it was early in the first couple years of this small business where she was at the point she was willing to sacrifice, and she wasn't taking a salary because she was dedicated to seeing this business be successful and because she was faithful to her employees and to the jobs that she had created. She chooses not to take a salary, and she doesn't offer health care. She would like to, but she can't.

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