Brabant explains the main concerns of Main Street owners before the upcoming election
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 12, 2024) – NFIB Vice President of Federal Government Relations Jeff Brabant joined Scripps News Live to discuss the challenges impacting Main Streets nationwide. Brabant shares the legislative issues small business owners want to hear addressed by candidates before upcoming elections, noting the importance of making the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent and the impact regulatory requirements have on the small business economy.
Brabant said:
“The things that small business owners care about most right now are inflation and access to qualified labor. So, they want to hear more about how these candidates are going to realistically address inflation.
“By the end of the year, over 32 million small business owners – only businesses with 20 or fewer employees – are going to have to register their business, and anyone with significant control of their business, with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen). That’s a $77 billion regulation over ten years. That is only going to increase inflation and hurt small business owners.
“We’re also looking at a massive tax hike on small business owners that’s due to kick in at the end of 2025…If that does happen, we’re looking at 30 million small businesses looking at a tax increase. The Small Business Deduction will expire if Congress fails to act.
“If you’re a small business owner, let’s say you have seven employees like the average NFIB member. You don’t have a compliance staff, you don’t have a regulatory staff, you don’t have a legal team. Any time there is a new regulation, you have to learn about that regulation yourself, you then have to figure out how to implement it, and you have to figure out how to communicate that to your staff. So, that’s a real burden on small business owners.”
