John Arensmeyer

Released February 16, 2012:

I joined Administrator Karen Mills, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and a Michigan small business owner on a tele-press conference today to discuss the expansion and simplification of the small business healthcare tax credit in the Affordable Care Act.

Since its enactment nearly two years ago, the Affordable Care Act has already helped many small business owners better afford health coverage. The healthcare tax credits have played an important role. However, the credit could be made even more robust—which is what the president proposed as part of his 2013 budget.

Already, the small business tax credits are helping thousands of small businesses better afford health insurance. Last year, we released national opinion polling that found one-third of small business owners who currently don’t offer insurance would be more likely to do so because of these credits.

Improving this provision will let more small businesses take advantage of an important tool to help rein in healthcare costs. What’s good for small business is good for the economy. Expanding the tax credit would save more small businesses money, which will do even more to stimulate our economic recovery.

Michigan’s Mark Hodesh, owner of 100-year-old Downtown Home and Garden in Ann Arbor, is one of many owners whose business has already grown thanks to savings from the credit. “I’ve offered my 11 employees health insurance for a long time in order to attract and retain talent. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I’m now being rewarded for doing so,” he said.

In 2010, Hodesh saved almost $9,000 with the credit—nearly 30 percent of his total premium contribution. “Knowing that I was getting the credit gave me the confidence I needed to hire a 12^th employee, who turned out to be a big asset to my store. Previously unemployed, she’s also now an asset to the local economy as a taxpayer and consumer.” This year, Hodesh could qualify to receive about $9,800 if Congress adopts the expanded credit.

The healthcare tax credits were designed to ease the burden of small businesses’ skyrocketing healthcare costs so these firms can grow and hire. Unfortunately, our polling found 57 percent of small business owners do not know the credits exist. And from speaking with entrepreneurs and CPAs across the country, we’ve found that some small employers—although they might qualify for the credit—think it’s too complicated and bypass it entirely. The president’s budget would change that.

To view Small Business Majority’s economic and opinion research on healthcare reform’s impact on small businesses, visit our website: http://smallbusinessmajority.org/small-business-research/healthcare/index.php

John Arensmeyer

Statement by John Arensmeyer on February 16, 2012:

The Environmental Protection Agency today published in the Federal Register its final rule requiring power companies to clean up or close their dirtiest plants—a rule supported by small business owners across the political spectrum, and one that will create much-needed jobs.

National polling we conducted found 76 percent of small employers support the EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, refineries and other major emitters. Additionally, 79 percent of small business owners support having clean air and water in their community and 61 percent support standards that move the country towards energy efficiency and clean energy.

A recent report by the Political Economy Research Institute found this new rule—called the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)—is part of a suite of clean-air standards that will create 1.4 million new jobs over the next five years.

Despite strong support for these standards and their projected economic benefits, some have claimed they will actually stifle job growth. That opposition is misguided. The job market will not suffer from the new rules, and saying that it would is an exercise in political rhetoric that ignores a wide body of research indicating otherwise.

We are pleased to see lawmakers considering small business owners’ views on this issue and working to meet their needs.

John Arensmeyer

Statement by John Arensmeyer on February 13, 2012:

The budget proposal President Obama released today keeps the spotlight trained on small businesses’ key concerns: enhancing access to credit, investing in job-creating infrastructure projects and boosting small business provisions in the Affordable Care Act.

These issues are major areas of concern for small businesses, and we’re glad the president is looking to address them in his long-term plan. Opinion polling we recently released found 90 percent of small businesses say access to credit is a problem and the same percentage support making it easier for community banks and credit unions to lend more. Additionally, more than two-thirds support investing in infrastructure projects.

We’re especially pleased to see a proposal to expand and simplify the small business tax credit in the healthcare law. We know from our polling and from talking to countless small business owners across the country that many small employers don’t know this provision to help them afford insurance for their employees exists. Some say it’s too complicated to use and bypass it entirely. Expanding and simplifying the credit so more small business owners can take advantage of it is exactly what small businesses have been asking for to help combat ever-rising premium costs.

We also know from our polling that reining in the deficit is important for small business owners, but the only way to close the gap is to get the economy back on track. The president’s plan recognizes the need to do both.

John Arensmeyer

Statement by John Arensmeyer on February 9, 2012:

Today, in the biggest government-industry settlement since 1998, major mortgage lenders and the federal government struck a $25 billion deal that will bring relief to struggling homeowners across the nation, boosting demand for small businesses and stimulating the economy.

One in three small business owners report weak demand to be their top concern, according to national opinion polling commissioned by Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance and the American Sustainable Business Council. What’s more, three-quarters of owners say their business has suffered from low demand directly related to the mortgage crisis.

Our scientific opinion poll also found that by a 2:1 ratio, the majority of owners believe reducing the principal on underwater mortgages to their current market value would boost consumer spending.

Entrepreneurs who have used their homes as collateral especially stand to benefit. A full quarter of small business owners have used their home as an equity line of credit in order to finance their business. Many of them can now re-pocket money they lost when the market crashed and use it to grow their business, in turn stimulating the economy.

Today’s deal between the federal government and top mortgage lenders is a step in the right direction for small business, and marks a historical step toward our overall economic recovery.

For the full results of our national opinion poll, click here.

John Arensmeyer

Originally featured in the Huffington Post.

For too long, small businesses have been struggling to bear the brunt of the recession. Lending has all but dried up for small employers, and too many lawmakers are spending more time playing politics than working to pass smart legislation to help them. If small businesses are going to help fix our country’s employment problem, they need increased access to credit and smart jobs legislation. How do we know small business owners feel this way? We asked them.

According to a national poll of 500 small business owners released Jan. 26 by Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance and the American Sustainable Business Council, an overwhelming 90 percent of small employers believe credit availability is a problem for small businesses. Employers also agree when it comes to lending, banks are less friendly than they were four years ago: 61 percent say it is harder to get a loan now than it was then.

Banks’ loan portfolios have been reduced by more than $47 billion since the pre-recession peak–and that affects business owners across the country. Take Sandra Garratt, for instance. Since 1992, she has operated several organic clothing companies. As an early investor in innovative manufacturing–and one who has been named entrepreneur of the year, at that–she thought she’d be able to obtain a loan, or at least a line of credit for her business. She was wrong. She had to take time away from the business to care for aging parents, which negatively affected her credit. Despite her business acumen and accolades, every bank has turned her down. She’s now forced to turn business away regularly because of an inability to stock fabric.

It’s the experiences of real small business owners like Sandra that explain why 90 percent of entrepreneurs want community banks’ and credit unions’ lending authority expanded. And more than three-fourths of them support incentivizing community banks to boost their small business lending. Without these kinds of measures, many small business owners are forced to take extreme measures–like turning to credit cards.

Anyone familiar with credit cards knows their terms and conditions can make your head spin, and that debt can build in the blink of an eye. Yet despite the risk they pose, more than half of small business owners have used credit cards to help finance their business. But owners know they can cause problems, which is why four in five support requiring the credit card industry to provide clearer disclosure of terms and interest rates.

The bottom line is small business owners need increased cash flow to keep their doors open and hire more workers. But that can’t happen without the help of smart policies that boost the private sector. Besides increased access to credit, small business owners also support current proposals being debated in Congress, and highlighted by the president in his 2012 State of the Union address, that aim to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

When asked about various provisions included in the president’s American Jobs Act, small business owners were particularly supportive of investments in infrastructure: 69 percent favor investing $50 billion in projects to improve roads, bridges and water systems, and six in 10 small business owners support creation of a nationwide wireless network.

Innovation has historically been one of the driving forces behind entrepreneurship. It’s no wonder small business owners recognize the potential and opportunity for innovation to stimulate the private sector. It’s not just a select group of small business owners that feel this way, either–survey respondents’ political views run the gamut: 50 percent of respondents identified as Republican, 32 percent as Democrat and 15 percent as independent.

Small businesses need a hand if they’re going to help rebuild the economy. Today’s credit barrier limits small business expansion and strains entrepreneurs’ capacity to put America back to work. While lawmakers in Congress are using partisan rhetoric to dismantle proposals aimed at creating jobs, entrepreneurs are repeatedly voicing their support for these exact ideas. For their sake, legislators need to focus on bettering credit conditions and try to repair our jobs problem.