![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.4944444444444445in"
height="0.9923611111111111in"}April 25, 2008

Thank Small Businesses by Removing Barriers to Success

By Congressman Joe Pitts

If you are not employed by a small business, chances are high that your
neighbor, a family member, or best friend is. In fact, small businesses
employ a full half of all the private sector employees in the United
States. In this light, President Bush designated April 20-26 as Small
Business Week. Every President has done the same since 1963. Small
businesses play a key role in the United States economy and in the very
fabric of our nation. Indeed, the entrepreneurial spirit embodied by our
nation's small businesses captures the very essence of what defines
America as the land of opportunity.

Small businesses are instrumental in the civic makeup of our
communities. Their owners and employees are our friends and neighbors.
Many small business owners also work long hours and operate on razor
thin margins to make their dream a reality. In our fast paced and
continually innovating marketplace, the nation relies on small
businesses for the new ideas, products, and jobs that make a strong
economy. For all the sacrifices these entrepreneurs make and for all
they give to our communities and country, Small Business Week is an
opportunity to say thank you.

And I propose Congress say thank you by passing legislation that helps
small businesses thrive, and make the U.S. economy strong in the
process. Many of the issues that confront small businesses are
emblematic of the wider issues facing both individuals and businesses in
our economy.

According to the Small Business Administration, very small firms, those
with fewer than 20 employees, annually spend 45 percent more per
employee than larger firms to comply with federal regulations. These
very small firms spend 67 percent more per employee on tax compliance
than their larger counterparts. Let's cut the red tape and simplify the
tax code.

Another serious issue facing our small businesses is the cost and
availability of health insurance. Small businesses often struggle to
meet the high cost of providing health insurance to their employees.
Let's pass legislation that would end the bias in the tax code that
provides tax breaks to employers who provide health coverage but not to
individuals that wish to purchase their own, portable health coverage.

By empowering individuals to obtain their own health insurance directly,
we would be solving a small business problem while keeping more
individuals insured. When people buy their own insurance, they do not
need to worry about a change in employment leaving them without health
coverage. This solution would help relieve a major burden for small
businesses while encouraging individuals to own their own, portable
health coverage. As an added benefit, this would also enhance
competition, and thus improve consumer options.

Let's also provide tax relief that encourages our small businesses to
invest in the assets that help to grow business. The Economic Growth
Act, of which I am a cosponsor, would allow businesses to immediately
expense---or fully deduct on their tax returns---the costs of assets
during the year in which they buy them. Currently, businesses can only
take limited deductions for the cost of such assets over a number of
years. By uncapping and accelerating business expensing, we would be
providing a major motivation for small businesses to acquire the assets
they need to grow, which will undoubtedly lead to expansion and job
creation.

Congress should also make the tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 permanent.
Many small businesses are not incorporated, so their owners pay taxes as
individuals. Many of the "millionaires" liberals in Congress want to
raise taxes on are really struggling small businesses that would have to
lay people off or event close their doors if their taxes went up. If
Congress does not pass legislation to reverse the course, by 2011, tax
rates for nearly all brackets will increase---some by as much as five
percent. Raising taxes is the not the way to make our economy
competitive.

Small businesses are extremely important to our economy. Many small
business owners sink their lives into their businesses because they
believe they have something to offer that consumers need. Small
businesses are incubators for big inventions and big ideas. It is
difficult enough to start a business from scratch. Congress should
remove the barriers that impede small business success and pass
legislation that provides an environment for entrepreneurship to thrive.
Nothing less than the health of our economy relies on it.

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