NASE in the News

Trump Delivers Third State of the Union,  No Mention of Small Business

On the eve of the Senate acquitting President Trump and avoiding impeachment, the President delivered his third and final State of the Union of his first term. While the speech noted in great detail the economic success of the US, it was a bit of a shock that during the nearly 90 min speech, the President did not mention small business or entrepreneurs.

Of course, the President highlighted the continued success of our economy: the creation of 5.3 million new jobs and the lowest unemployment in over half a century. However, the President only mentioned his tax cut bill twice, once highlighting the expansion of the child tax credit and Opportunity Zones.

The President spent most of the time dedicated to domestic policy issues on criminal justice reform, immigration and school choice.

The NASE in an op-ed published in The Hill had called on the President to focus on seven key issues for the self-employed:

1. Retirement options: Implement creative retirement options for small businesses, such as those included in the recently passed bipartisan SECURE Act, so that all Americans can retire with dignity regardless of job, status and employment structure.

2. Tax equity and simplification: Continue to reduce the tax burden on small businesses, while also streamlining the tax code to make it easier and simpler to file annual tax returns.

3. Health care: Strengthen the Affordable Care Act by making access to health care more affordable for small business owners and find additional options for small businesses to gain coverage, or to ensure their continuity of coverage.

4. Predatory lending: Crack down on lending entities that use practices that are unfair or abusive, leading to loans that are unwanted, unaffordable or predatory in nature, with high interest rates and hidden fees.

5. Access to capital: With the recent Senate approval of Jovita Carranza to lead the Small Business Administration, focus on opening new lines of capital by not only making sure the process is easy to apply for, but also that small businesses readily receive the money in a timely manner to invest in starting or growing business operations.

6. Promoting entrepreneurship: Continue to support, reward and foster the growth and expansion of new and existing small businesses through positive public policies.

7. Deregulation: Continue to cut more red tape and burdensome regulations, such as unnecessary and excessive licensing requirements, to allow them to spend time on business operations and not just government paperwork.

As you can see, there is much work to be done to support America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs. The NASE looks forward to rolling up our sleeves and advancing these key initiatives in the months ahead!