NEVADA, June 12,
2000 -- Repeal of the federal death tax and
making healthcare more affordable top a federal
policy blueprint issued today for policymakers
and candidates to boost the health and vitality
of small business and earn the potent political
support of entrepreneurs at the same
time.
Jack Sanders, owner of Pahrump
Vineyards in Pahrump, joined more than 600other
small business owners and advocates from across
the country developed the Small Business
Referendum for the Future, a policy roadmap for
solving the most critical concerns of small
business. The small businessmen and women who
crafted the Referendum are delegates to the 2000
Congressional Small Business Summit being held
this week in Washington, D.C. The event is
hosted by NFIB.
"Small business' importance
to the economy and its leadership role with
local communities combine to make it a powerful
force in the policy-making and political
arenas," said NFIB President Jack Faris. "This
Referendum gives a unified voice to that
powerful force - a voice that will play an
important role in the policy debate. This
Referendum will be in play not just between now
and November, but when a new Congress and
president get to work in 2001."
Faris
predicted small business involvement in the 2000
elections would be "tremendous," noting that a
full 47 percent of the electorate in 1996 came
from a small business household. They not only
vote in high numbers, but they also work to get
pro-small business candidates elected he said.
Research shows that nearly one in three small
business owners who voted in 1998 reported they
volunteered for a political candidate. They also
"put their money where their mouths are," Faris
said. More than one-third of small business
owners who voted in 1998 reported they had
contributed to political candidates.
In
addition to tax relief and affordable health
care, the Summit delegates highlighted other
priorities, including:
- Use the non-Social Security surplus to
provide tax relief, pay down the national debt
and further shore up Social Security,
- Allow workers to invest a portion of Social
Security payroll taxes in personal accounts,
- Ease the regulatory burden by overhauling
OSHA and EPA to emphasize employer assistance
instead of enforcement,
- Help ease worker shortages and build on the
recent repeal of the Social Security earnings
limit by providing tax credits for worker
training
- Sunset the current tax code and replace it
with either a flat tax or a consumption
tax.
The Referendum will be
presented to the congressional leadership, to
the major political parties' platform
developers, and to presidential
candidates.
Summit delegates also
overwhelmingly supported Texas Gov. George Bush
in a presidential straw poll conducted this
morning. Bush received approximately97% of the
vote, with Vice President Al Gore receiving
approximately 3%.Bush and Gore were unable to
attend the Summit in person, but prior to the
vote, messages from both candidates were
delivered to the delegates.
Contact: Mary Mead
Crawford orAngela
Jones at 202.554.9000
|
