From The President By Bennie L. Thayer, NASE President Help Us Accomplish The NASE’s 1999 Legislative Goals I hope your new year started off as exciting as mine. I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the NASE’s membership enrollers. They’re the backbone of our great association and a top-flight team who keeps the NASE growing strong. Just like you, our enrollers are independent entrepreneurs—self-employed professionals in every sense. And they share many of the same dreams and dilemmas of running their own businesses. So I was excited when they showed high-spirited enthusiasm about the NASE’s recent legislative successes—and our priorities for the coming year. Here are just a few of the issues that garnered strong interest from the NASE enrollers. I’d like to know how these—and any other important legislative issues—impact your business and personal life. Home-Office Deduction The enrollers were delighted about the NASE’s victory in broadening the tax deduction for home offices. Like so many of you, they often work out of home offices. So they, too, chaffed under the narrow criteria the IRS set for the home-office deduction. They were proud of the NASE for leading the successful fight to broaden the home-office deduction that takes effect beginning in the 1999 tax year. Health-Insurance Deduction For the sixth consecutive year, the NASE spearheaded an increase in the deductibility of health insurance for the self-employed. I promised the association’s enrollers—and I promise you, our Members—that the NASE will work tirelessly to move the health-insurance deduction to 100 percent immediately. Self-employed Americans should have the same tax deduction for health insurance that corporate America has enjoyed for decades. Social Security Reform In December 1998, I spoke at a press conference held at the U.S. Capitol for the Campaign to Strengthen and Save Social Security. I’ll tell you now what I told the attendees at that press conference: “The self-employed suffer from a heavy Social Security payroll tax burden, as well as particularly unstable prospects for retirement income. More than 80 percent of the nation’s self-employed pay more in Social Security taxes than in federal income taxes. So strengthening Social Security benefits without increasing payroll taxes is vital to the smallest of America’s small businesses—the self-employed. That is why we join so many of America’s businesses in calling for personal retirement accounts.” The NASE’s enrollers encouraged me to continue to fight for Social Security reform. So again this year, the NASE will be an outspoken advocate for progressive changes in the Social Security system. I’d like to know how you feel about these and other issues that you face every day while running your small business. I hope you’ll drop me an e-mail via the NASE Web site. Or take the time to pen a quick letter and mail it to 2121 Precinct Line Road, Hurst, TX 76054. Let me know personally how the NASE’s 1999 legislative agenda can help you.

Bennie L. Thayer NASE President Be A Part Of The Billion Byte March Join the Internet march on Washington that will help remodel our Social Security system for the 21st century. Contact these organizations today: NASE 800-232-NASE Economic Security 2000 888-SS-FACTS www.march.org

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