National Federation of Independent Business
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small business owners in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. NFIB aims to advance the interests of small business owners, which it defines as minimizing government regulation. Its political action committee is called Save America's Free Enterprise Trust. While officially nonpartisan, it overwhelmingly endorses and donates to Republican candidates. In the 2019-20 campaign cycle, NFIB gave 97.1% of its donations to Republicans. Politics. On its website, the National Federation  of Independent Business states that it is a "nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943" and "represents the consensus views of its members in Washington and all 50 state capitals." Its PAC is called Save America's Free Enterprise Trust (SAFE). In 2010, 25 of its members, all Republican, were elected to the 112th Congress. A number of them, such as Rand Paul, Jeff Duncan, Paul Gosar and Kristi Noem, are affiliated with or endorsed by the Tea Party movement. There has been debate about how representative of American small business owners NFIB is, noting its very conservative and pro-Republican  record. Since 1990, it has donated $725,551 to Democratic candidates and party committees versus $11,972,074 to Republican candidates or party committees. It was a key opponent of President Bill Clinton's attempt to reform American health care in 1993. Through the 2000s, it was considered one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington. It has been accused of creating astroturf campaigns to oppose government regulations. In 2010, the NFIB became the lead plaintiff opposing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health care reform legislation. The organization joined 26 states in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the  act. The case reached the Supreme Court, which issued its ruling on "National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius" on June 28, 2012, upholding most provisions of the act. Karl Rove's conservative Crossroads GPS PAC gave NFIB $3.7 million to help fund the court fight. Many other small business advocates supported PPACA. The NFIB supported the America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2014 (H.R. 4457; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code, which mostly affects small- to medium-sized businesses, to retroactively and permanently extend from January 1, 2014 , increased limitations on the amount of investment that can be immediately deducted from taxable income. The bill would return the tax code to its 2013 status and make the change permanent. Dan Danner, the president and CEO at that time, argued that Congress could help small business by passing the bill as it would enable small businesses to "plan for the future, invest in the economy and hire new workers." In 2017, NFIB endorsed confirmation of SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch. In 2021, it sued to oppose a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses before the Supreme Court. In fiscal year 2019 , NFIB had total revenue of $97,191,251.