Significant Tax Relief Over The Past Four Years, Including The Acceleration Of Individual Tax Rate Reductions

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Rep. John Hostettler today voted for a resolution calling for a Small Business Bill of Rights that gives America’s small employers the tools they need to grow their businesses and create jobs. “Small businesses are a driving economic force in every town in the 8th District,” said Hostettler. “They create jobs and provide vital services to the community. The small businesses that dot our landscape are the product of the ingenuity, vision and hard work of Hoosiers. “Many of these businesses are struggling,” Hostettler added. “They are burdened by layers of taxation. Over-regulation threatens to stifle creativity and productivity. Outdated laws regarding health care prevent small businesses from obtaining affordable insurance for employees. And frivolous lawsuits can wipe out everything they’ve worked for.” The resolution states that America’s small employers should have: The right to join together to purchase affordable health insurance for small business employees. Sixty percent of Americans without health insurance are small business employees and their families. The right to simplified tax laws that allow family-owned small businesses to survive over several generations and offer them incentives to grow. The complexity of the tax code makes compliance difficult. In many instances the code discriminates against small businesses and self-employed persons by limiting certain tax incentives to larger firms or corporations. The right to be free from frivolous lawsuits which harm law-abiding small businesses and prevent them from creating new jobs. Frivolous lawsuits and the rising costs of liability insurance represent serious threats to small business owners. The right to be free of unnecessary, restrictive regulations and paperwork. Very small firms (those with fewer than 20 employees) spent 56 percent more per employee than larger firms to comply with federal regulations. Small firms also spend 4 ½ times more for environmental regulations and twice as much on tax compliance. Regulations and paperwork cost small businesses more than $5,500 per employee. The right to relief from high energy costs, which threaten the survival of small businesses, to be accomplished by reducing the nation’s reliance on imported sources of energy and encouraging environmentally-sound domestic production and conservation of energy. The right to equal treatment, as compared to large businesses, when seeking access to start-up and expansion capital and credit. The right to open access to the government procurement marketplace by breaking up large contracts to give small business a fair opportunity to compete for Federal contracts. More than 90 percent of all American employers are small businesses, according to the Small Business Administration. Small businesses generate approximately 70 percent of the new jobs created in the United States each year and account for a significant majority of new product ideas and innovations. Among the recent small business-friendly actions taken by the House and supported by Rep. Hostettler are: Passage of a bill that would create Association Health Plans (AHPs), allowing small businesses to band together and purchase health insurance through national associations at group rates. Passage of the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005 on April 13. Passage of the Class Action Fairness Act, signed into law in February, to eliminate a major component of litigation abuse. According to one private sector study, the tort system costs U.S. small businesses $88 billion a year, or about $150,000 a year for each small business. Passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 on April 21 to provide adequate, affordable, and reliable energy supplies. Passage of the Increased Capital Access for Growing Businesses Act on April 6 to update and modernize Business Development Companies (BDCs), a valuable source of funding for growing companies that do not have access to traditional sources of financing like bank lending or access to the public securities market. Significant tax relief over the past four years, including the acceleration of individual tax rate reductions, acceleration of the expansion of the 10 percent bracket, increased business depreciation for the cost of machines and equipment and increased small business expensing.