Cravaack Advocates for 20% Small Business Tax Cut to Benefit Middle Class Americans

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and the underlying bill, H.R. 9, the Small Business Tax Cuts Act.

Small businesses are drowning in red tape, and the National Federation of Independent Business has determined that tax compliance is one of their biggest costs.

Small businesses now spend between 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion hours on tax compliance, with a total estimated cost of between $15 billion and $16 billion annually. This wasted time and effort would be better invested in creating jobs and manufacturing products instead of handing over hard earned compensation to the government.

I support efforts to reform our tax code and make it simpler to reduce those compliance costs, and I also support reducing the tax burden on American job creators.

That's why I'm glad to be a cosponsor of H.R. 9, legislation that would reduce the burden faced by small businesses. Since 99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses employ less than 500 people, small businesses are vital to the American economy.

In the Eighth District, eight out of ten jobs are due to small businesses.

When I return home, I repeatedly listen to the same concerns from small businesspeople in the Eighth District. My constituents are hesitant to expand their businesses as a result of deficient access to capital, complex legal burdens, and tax-code uncertainty.

The Small Business Tax Cuts Act immediately creates access to capital by allowing productive employers to reinvest more of their hard earned money in their businesses. This bill will have an immediate impact in every city and town in this country. In fact, more than 22 million small businesses will receive a much-needed infusion of capital.

Several small business owners I have talked to in my district have already expressed strong support for this proposal. This includes businesses such as RC Fabricators in Hibbing, Minnesota, which manufactures precision steel and aluminum construction equipment, Extreme Equipment Repairs in Harris, Minnesota, which specializes in large transport truck repair, and the London Road Rental Center in Duluth, Minnesota, which provides equipment and party rentals for the Duluth area.

For example, because of the recent success of Northern Minnesota's mining and paper industries, RC Fabricators has been looking for ways to expand, but high taxes have prevented them from accumulating enough capital to grow. This bill will ease their tax burden and allow them to update machinery, hire workers, and provide high quality products. These kinds of stories will be repeated throughout the country if we act on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 9 is a common sense, pro-growth bill that will provide an immediate assistance to employers and American workers as we labor to jumpstart our economy and ease the burden felt by small businesses. I urge all of my colleagues to support the rule, as well as the underlying bill. Thank you and I yield back.

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[Will Lacina]

Well done!!

[AwayFromTheWorld]

If what I am hearing is accurate, this is how legislation should be done. Small bills (or amendments) that go right to the point, not long tedious bills with hidden objectives.