Texas Border Business
AUSTIN (April 17, 2020) — The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, issued a “Legislative Plan for Small Business Survival,” today, that included ten prescriptive recommendations to help ensure more small businesses survive the coronavirus crisis and more quickly return to normal business operations once restrictions are lessened.
“Small businesses, which account for half of the American economy and nearly half of all jobs, are fighting for their survival every day that this crisis continues. Efforts by the Administration and Congress, while well-intentioned, have been met with significant challenges to this point,” said NFIB President Brad Close. “There are lessons to be learned, however, and this plan provides several clear and actionable steps for Congress to take that will help give small businesses a fighting chance.”
The plan includes recommendations for improving the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, ending costly mandates, and making regulatory compliance simpler. These recommendations include:
- Extend Paycheck Protection Program and Make Sure the Smallest Employers Get Help.
- Increase flexibility for forgivable loan terms in the Paycheck Protection Program.
- Prohibit Discrimination Against Small Employers in the Paycheck Protection Program.
- End the Costly COVID-19 Mandates on Small Businesses for Paid Sick Leave and Extended Family and Medical Leave on May 31, 2020.
- Fully Fund the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and Improve the Related Grant Program.
- Recognize the Limits to the Ability of Small Businesses to Learn of and Comply with Laws and Regulations.
- Tapered Transition Out of Programs After COVID-19 No Longer Represents a Significant Threat to Public Health.
- Narrowly-tailor Any New Requirements Related to the Reopening to Account for the Realities of Different Industries and Business Sizes.
- Require Each Agency to Conduct a Regulatory Look-Back Review.
- Statement of Policy from Congress on the Future of Small Businesses.
The executive summary and full plan can be found here and here.
“As Congress debates the next steps for providing funding for small businesses, it is crucial they do it in a manner that truly aids the smaller firms in this country. These are the ones that faced the most challenges accessing PPP and disaster loans, something we can’t afford to let happen again,” Close said.
NFIB State Director Annie Spilman and said there are steps the Texas Legislature could take to help lessen the financial impact the coronavirus is having on small businesses.
“We’re asking the Legislature to pass certain tax exemptions for small businesses so they can afford to reopen once the COVID-19 outbreak subsides, such as waiving franchise tax payments for businesses with revenue under $5 million a year and providing small-business exemptions on business personal property taxes,” Spilman said.
“The bottom line is that the response to the coronavirus is devastating Texas’ small businesses,” Spilman said. “Unless Congress and the Legislature take action to reduce the financial impact the virus is having on the economy, then many of those businesses will be forced to close for good.”
About NFIB
For more than 75 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
