Graves Statement on Path to Prosperity Budget's Impact On Small Business

Press Release

House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today issued the following statement on Rep. Paul Ryan's FY 2013 House Republican budget resolution to put our nation on a Path to Prosperity:

"Our nation faces a debt crisis that has put a stressful burden on the economy. As long as we go on without addressing this crisis, America will not experience the strong economic recovery that our great nation is accustomed to. Polls consistently show that small businesses believe that one of their biggest challenges is the weakened economic climate caused by, among other things, uncertainty and the national debt crisis. In order for small businesses to feel comfortable about hiring and investing in their business, Washington must provide certainty and address the debt by restoring discipline to our federal spending through a responsible budget.

"While the President focuses on the politics of division and the Senate has avoided even proposing a budget for more than 1060 days, Republicans today have passed a budget that will address our debt crisis and help provide more certainty for small businesses. This budget includes fundamental pro-growth tax reform, eliminates corporate loopholes and subsidies to help create more jobs, and addresses the real drivers of our debt, saving our social safety net programs from going bankrupt.

"The choice is clear. The House Republican budget cuts government spending and helps create small business jobs, while the President campaigns and the Senate does nothing. Families and small businesses all across America have to balance their budgets and set spending priorities; why should the federal government be any different?"

Small businesses agree that a plan addressing the debt and providing economic certainty will provide a better environment for job creation:

During a February hearing on the state of the American small business, Michael J. Fredrich, President of Manitowoc Custom Molding in Manitowoc, WI, said, "On top of serious spending and fiscal issues, new legislation passed by Congress, the ever changing and confusing actions of the Federal Reserve, and what appears to be the [disinterest] of Washington regarding the level of Federal debt creates a level of uncertainty in the private sector which will only result in stagnation and decline."

During a hearing last year, Bill Feinberg, President of Allied Kitchen and Bath in Ft. Lauderdale, FL said, "We are hopeful to have weathered the worst of the economic storm and are cautiously optimistic about the future. That being said, the uncertainty being generated by Washington, through a dizzying array of unanswered questions about health care, taxes, energy and regulations impacts our decisions and hampers our ability to effectively plan for the future. We need answers, we need clarity, and perhaps most importantly, we need for these issues to be resolved in a manner that encourages entrepreneurism, investment and job creation."

During a December field hearing on uncertainty in Illinois, Craig Larsen, Founder and President of AHC Advisors, Inc. in St. Charles, Ill., said, "It is my opinion that uncertainty about future tax rates is hindering job growth in our country. If businesses are unable to reasonably predict future tax rates, how can they be expected to expand or undertake new projects on the margin if it is possible that future tax rates could be so high as to make these projects unprofitable? If businesses don't expand existing projects, or take on new projects, employment growth will remain muted."

Through the Small Business Committee's interactive website, Small Biz Open Mic, the following small business owners said:

"The inability of Congress and the White House to agree on the federal budget is a major source of uncertainty for my business. This is no way to run a country and it makes it challenging for those of us in small business to run our companies. I'd like to hire in 2012, but with no budget certainty, I'm having to put those plans on hold." Edward Pope of Unico Technology CO Ltd in Westlake Village, CA, October 29, 2011.

"As a small business owner, it is very difficult to hire. While the burden has been placed on small businesses to hire and help grow the economy, the government and other issues make it a difficult objective to achieve. The federal government has an "anti-business aura" with large debts leaving uncertainty about the future of our country. With these kinds of issues facing small businesses, it makes it nearly impossible for small businesses to thrive and prosper." James Cillessen of Interstate Electrical Contractors, Inc in Wheat Ridge, CO, September 27, 2011.

"The biggest hurdle is doing business in a Country where government has allowed public debt to accumulate to the point of instability. Stability is necessary for long range investment and planning, the things that create real jobs." Brian Olson of Imperial Coffee in Pierre, SD, January 29, 2012.

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