Weekly Column: Investing in Idaho's Small Businesses

One of my top priorities in crafting the Working Families Tax Cuts was making pro-growth policy permanent, so Idaho business owners would have the certainty they need to invest in expanding their operations. This National Small Business Week (May 3-9), I join in celebrating Idaho’s small businesses—the men and women who boldly turn their ideas into products, jobs and services as they lift up our communities. I also thank the Idahoans and my colleagues who helped enact the Working Families Tax Cuts, benefiting workers, job creators and consumers.

Idaho is home to more than 207,000 small businesses, which make up 99 percent of Idaho businesses, according to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) data. Fifty-six percent of Idaho workers are employed by these economic engines. Women own 46 percent of them, while veterans own 7 percent. They contribute to our economy in many different ways: constructing homes, buildings and infrastructure; meeting health care needs; selling food and other products; manufacturing goods; entertaining and contributing to the arts and recreation; farming, ranching and harvesting forests; educating and so much more.

For more than 60 years, small businesses and entrepreneurs and their monumental role in our economy have been celebrated during National Small Business Week. Consistent with that tradition, I once again co-sponsored a resolution designating National Small Business Week and celebrating the efforts and achievements of small business owners and employees. In a 1983 Small Business Week proclamation, President Ronald Reagan said:

America's entrepreneurs and small business owners are among the most dynamic and innovative leaders of the business community. Their willingness to confront uncertainty with creativity and determination to succeed helps our Nation meet the challenges we face today. This spirit of accomplishment inspires Americans to look toward tomorrow with confidence and anticipation to the new opportunities open to future generations. By taking steps to encourage the formation and success of small businesses, America can help ensure its economic standing in the world.

Last year’s enactment of the Working Families Tax Cuts was an important step in doing just that. The law increased confidence for more than 25 million small businesses due to a permanent 20 percent deduction, which is expected to create 1.2 million jobs annually and add $750 billion over the next decade to small business gross domestic product. Internal Revenue Service data from this tax filing season show nearly 12 million small business owners are already seeing an average tax reduction of nearly $7,000, while the permanent extension of the small business deduction is delivering $4,600 in average relief to eight million entrepreneurs. The law also included permanent 100 percent expensing for machinery and equipment, fueling business expansion and better ensuring more products are “Made in America.”

Further, the Working Families Tax Cuts provided permanent immediate deductibility of research and development expenses, encouraging investment in innovation. And it permanently doubled the death tax exemption, sparing family farms and small businesses from costly planning and tax burdens that make it difficult to pass down their operations to the next generation. These are some of the many ways the Working Families Tax Cuts support small business expansion. Through other provisions, such as interest exclusion on rural and agricultural loans, Americans can reinvest as much capital as possible into their local economies.

Idaho remains an outstanding example of how good governance and sound policy can promote investment, boost growth and power a booming economy. As Idaho businesses invest in our communities, the Working Families Tax Cuts are giving them the stability in our tax code they need to thrive.

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