Sens. Landrieu, Stabenow Join Small-Business Advocates to Discuss How Democrats Are Standing Up for Small Business and Creating Jobs

U.S. Senate Small Business Committee Chair Mary Landrieu [D-La.] and Democratic Steering Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow [D-Mich., pictured] joined Terry Gardiner, of Small Business Majority, and Frank Knapp Jr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, at a press conference this morning to discuss how Senate Democrats have cut taxes and invested in small businesses.

Democrats have worked to make it easier for small businesses to hire new workers and afford their expenses. The measures that Democrats have passed have the potential to create an additional one million jobs this year.

While Democrats are fighting for small businesses and the middle class, Republicans have fought to give tax breaks to rich CEOs who have shipped American jobs overseas. Senate Democrats remain committed to passing a small-business jobs package that will continue to bolster small businesses in the coming weeks.

"We hear time and time again that America’s 29 million small businesses are the backbone of our economy," said Sen. Landrieu. "These entrepreneurs are the ones that felt the economic downturn first and most directly, so it goes without saying that helping these Main Street businesses has been, and will continue to be, a priority for this Democratic Congress.

"After witnessing big businesses and Wall Street CEOs get bailouts and tax breaks, middle-class families and small businesses were left to fight the economic downturn alone. Congress had to respond. With the incentives Congress has put in place to aid this country’s entrepreneurs, small businesses can continue their work of creating jobs and putting this economy back on track to success.'

"Small businesses have been hit hard by the economic downturn and global credit crisis," Sen. Stabenow noted. "That’s why almost every major piece of legislation passed in this Congress has provided assistance to small businesses. We have provided tax cuts to help pay for the cost of health care, tax cuts so companies can invest in advanced manufacturing, and provided access to much-needed capital. Together, these incentives are supporting entrepreneurs across the country, which is critical to helping our economy and creating new jobs.”

"Small businesses have been hit especially hard by the recession," said Gardiner, a former 22-year commercial fisherman who now serves as Small Business Majority's national policy director. "Many pieces of legislation passed by this Congress -- including comprehensive health-care reform, tax credits to hire new workers, and tax incentives for renewable-energy businesses -- will go a long way in helping small businesses, and the economy, get back on track."

"We worked with Congress to lower taxes and make health care more affordable for small businesses," Knapp noted. "Before the new health-care law passed, 40 percent of our businesses with fewer than 50 employees could afford to offer the benefit to their employees. Now they [all] can.

"This new law is good for small businesses, and our organization will continue to look for ways to work with Congress to lower costs for small businesses."

To view the video of the press conference, go to: http://bit.ly/LandrieuStabenowSmallBiz.

SOURCES: HealthReform.gov, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, U.S. Small Business Administration
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