National

On June 12, 2012, Small Business Majority and Kaiser Permanente released opinion polling that provides new insight into what small business owners in California and Oregon want out of state health insurance exchanges, which are being created under the Affordable Care Act. The polling found interest in a small business exchange is high, along with specific features in the exchange, including allowing employees to choose among multiple carriers and ensuring prevention and wellness programs are available. The survey also found awareness of the small business tax credits is low.

Small business owners across the country are working to rebuild our economy. These entrepreneurs, the engine of job creation, are doing everything they can to hire, grow and move their businesses forward. As part of these efforts, scientific opinion polling in six states— Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia—shows that America’s entrepreneurs want pragmatic, innovative policies that help guide them into a competitive, modern clean energy economy.

In the aftermath of the recession, small business owners are doing all they can to shift our economy back into gear. But many of them are still idling, if not completely stalled. To thrive and reach their full potential, small businesses need a more level economic playing field with large businesses—one that makes them better able to create jobs. Small business owners know robust economic policies aimed at leveling the playing field would strengthen their bottom lines and enhance their capacity to foster widespread economic growth.

Rhetoric blaming government regulations for a lack of small business growth and our stagnant economy has reached a fever pitch. Legislators have introduced bills aimed at curbing regulations, believing this would stimulate our sluggish economy. While lawmakers are right to view small business as the key to economic recovery, small businesses don’t see regulations as their No. 1 concern. Instead, the vast majority of small business owners believe weak demand is the primary problem for their business right now, not regulations.

On Jan. 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its Citizens United decision that corporations are free to spend unlimited sums of money in elections. According to opinion polling released by the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority, two-thirds of small business owners see this decision as bad for small business. The poll also shows small business owners overwhelmingly believe corporations have been given too much freedom to spend money that directly influences political campaigns.

Introduction 

America’s small business owners are doing all they can to outlast the condition of today’s economy. These hardworking employers know they need the right kind of help if they are to thrive. That’s why they believe immediate action is necessary to form bold clean energy policies that will prompt innovation, and in effect, stimulate small business and the economy.

In this tough economy, small business owners struggle just to keep their doors open, let alone turn a profit and create jobs. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in small businesses, and they know that to thrive we must create new opportunities and change with the times, which explains why they favor raising fuel efficiency standards by huge margins—a step some people have wrongly described as a job killer.

Small Business Majority released a national survey of 619 small business owners in January 2011 to gauge how entrepreneurs view two critical components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: healthcare tax credits and insurance exchanges.

Small businesses are the backbone of America’s economy. Across the country, there are nearly 4.8 million businesses that employ 25 or fewer workers. They’re your local diner, the hardware store down the street, and the mechanic in your neighborhood. 

Congress included in the Affordable Care Act a significant new tax credit for small business owners who provide their workers with health insurance. Under this new tax credit, businesses that have fewer than 25 full-time workers and average wages of less than $50,000 are now eligible to receive a tax credit of up to 35% of the cost of the health insurance that they provide for their workers.