We bring the voices of small business to the public policy table.
Small Business Majority is a small business advocacy group founded and run by small business owners to focus on solving some of the biggest problems facing small businesses today. A major area of concentration has been, and will continue to be, healthcare reform; our primary goal is to provide small business owners with information about the new law, and to educate policymakers about small business owners’ needs and concerns as they move forward on implementation. We’re also heavily involved in clean energy policy, as well as working on strategies to promote entrepreneurship and small business growth, including legislative provisions for job creation, tax credits and access to capital.
The small business community is vast, diverse and dynamic. It includes 6 million small employers with 43 million employees and nearly 22 million self-employed people, with varying political points of view. But they have at least one critical thing in common: Together, these entrepreneurs and other small business owners create jobs, innovate and grow the economy.
We conduct scientific research to illuminate key questions and opinions.
The best way to find out what small business owners want is to ask them.
In 2008-9, Small Business Majority commissioned scientific surveys of thousands of randomly selected small business owners in 19 states. The surveys showed that small businesses are overly burdened by healthcare costs, they want reform and they’re open to a variety of solutions.
In 2010, we polled 800 small business owners nationwide on their attitudes toward clean energy policy and legislation. Among other very insightful results, the survey found that 61% of respondents agree that moving the country to clean energy is a way to restart the economy and help small businesses create jobs.
We use sound and credible research to formulate policies and recommendations.
Small Business Majority turned to MIT economist Dr. Jonathan Gruber to project the effects of three different healthcare reform scenarios on small business profits, jobs and wages. The analysis found that compared with no reform, the scenarios would dramatically improve the situation for small businesses—holding down healthcare cost increases, saving jobs, preserving wages and bolstering profits.
Policy papers and materials we developed were widely used by healthcare reform advocacy and small business groups. The White House, Congress, advocacy groups and small business organizations frequently consult us as a trusted expert on small business issues.
We work with policymakers to find practical solutions.
Policymakers want to hear the opinions of their constituencies—with all the varied viewpoints they espouse. The polling we do of small business owners throughout their districts and states, along with our economic research, gives them the unbiased information they need to do their jobs, and we’re frequently asked to provide a small business perspective. A few examples:
Small Business Majority works with the White House and Congressional leadership to organize small business policy discussions.
We helped create multiple small business forums at the White House with cabinet members and senior administration staff on healthcare reform.
We worked with the US Senate Small Business Committee, on two in-depth discussions with a diverse group of business organizations on healthcare issues.
We organized meetings among our small business group partners and key House committees and caucuses to discuss healthcare reform.
We work with other national and state business groups, along with key federal and state officials, to ensure that policies and their implementation are beneficial to small businesses.
We were invited to meet with senior leadership and health policy staff of the California State Legislature, including the state health and human services secretary, to share our views on how a healthcare exchange should be established and managed.
We jointly initiated a working group with the Pacific Business Group on Health, California Chamber of Commerce and Small Business California, to develop common positions on issues surrounding the implementation of a successful state exchange.
We organized a meeting of national and state small business groups with the US House Tri-Committee staff charged with drafting healthcare reform.
We have met privately with US cabinet members, congressional leadership, and individual senators and representatives to discuss key healthcare, energy and other policies as they relate to small business needs.
We partner with organizations in many states and nationally on research and to garner support for reforms that benefit small businesses.
Families USA asked us to collaborate with them on research that shows how many small businesses in every state are likely to benefit from the new healthcare tax credit.
We co-sponsored, together with American Businesses for Clean Energy and We Can Lead, a bipartisan study on small businesses and clean energy policy.
We were an instrumental partner in the development of a white paper drafted by the National Coalition on Health Care on cost containment and delivery system reform.
CEO John Arensmeyer has testified often before US House and Senate committees considering healthcare reform legislation, and before the California State Legislature on development of the state insurance exchange.
We get real small businesses involved.
We foster a network of small business owners across the country who work with us in various ways to educate other business owners, convey their perspectives to policymakers and ensure that small business voices continue to be heard on a local, regional and national level.
Small business owners in our network write and submit op-eds and letters to the editor of their local newspapers to tell their stories about how their businesses are being affected by specific policy issues.
They participate in local and national press conferences and individual media interviews.
They attend events that we help organize—such as a day in November, 2009, when more than 130 small business owners from 24 states traveled to Washington, DC, to bring a message of support for healthcare reform to White House officials and members of Congress.