Pennsylvania Small Business Owners Very Concerned About Fiscal Cliff Amidst Holiday Shopping Blitz, but Favor Letting High-Income Tax Cuts Expire

Washington, D.C.  Today, Rep. Allyson Schwartz joined national small business advocacy organization Small Business Majority and a Pennsylvania small business owner on a tele-press conference call to discuss the fiscal cliff and how it might affect entrepreneurs and the middle class,‰ a category virtually all their customers and 97 percent of small business owners fall into. Small employers are becoming increasingly concerned about how going over the fiscal cliff could affect the spending power of their customers and their businesses bottom lines.

The longer that lawmakers take to find a solution to the fiscal cliff situation, the more uncertainty it causes for my business and for my customers, said Walt Rowen, owner of Susquehanna Glass Co. in Columbia, Pa. What we really need right now is to ensure that tax cuts for the middle class are extended, because they're the engine that fuels our economy and my business. Recent polling released by Small Business Majority found an overwhelming majority of small employers are aware of the fiscal cliff situation and are very concerned. The poll also found that small employers favor extending the middle class tax cuts but believe letting tax breaks expire for the wealthiest 2 percent is the right thing to do given our current budget crisis.

America's economic might is driven by consumer spending and confidence, with billions being spent annually in America's small businesses, said Rep. Allyson Schwartz. We have a responsibility to protect middle class families and small businesses, restore consumer and investor confidence, and continue to strengthen our economy. We can do that by passing the plan put forward by President Obama.

It's critically important that Democrats and Republicans come together to protect the middle class by ensuring their taxes don't go up in January, said Sen. Bob Casey, who planned to be on the call also but attended Funeral Services for the Late Senator Daniel K. Inuoye. Extending the middle class tax cuts is a commonsense step that can be taken right now to help working families, and keep the economy moving.

Falling off the fiscal cliff would have dire consequences for entrepreneurs and the middle class. A number of the tax provisions scheduled to lapse are ones that help entrepreneurs save money, allowing them to grow and hire. Many of the same tax cuts also put money back into the pockets of middle class consumers, which drives demand for small businesses goods and services more than anything else. That's why small business owners are more concerned about improving economic conditions for the middle class. Small Business Majority's poll found 86 percent of small business owners oppose increasing tax rates for household income below $250,000, and seven in 10 strongly oppose it.

Small businesses understand the need to fix our current economic crisis, and have made it clear they feel a balanced way to do that is to extend tax cuts for the middle class and let those for high-income earners lapse, said John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO of Small Business Majority. As America's chief job creators, small businesses opinions should be carefully considered by lawmakers as they work to find a solution and avoid the cliff.

A recording of the call is available at:

http://ow-gwskha01.freeconferencecall.com/conferences/065/86140065/record/817841690.mp3