Randy Hultgren Hosts Bring Small Businesses Back Townhall

On Monday, U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) hosted a forum with small business owners and local residents in his home state of Illinois as part of The Job Creators Network’s (JCN) Bring Small Businesses Back (BSBB) campaign. Rep. Hultgren’s event—”Fight for Opportunity: Unleashing the Power of Small Business”—sought to address the hurdles facing small businesses and identify solutions to overcome them.

“Small businesses are critically important to economic stability and growth in this country, and yet these employers are struggling under the weight of crippling taxes, job-killing regulations, and a lack of access to capital,” said Rep. Hultgren. “[W]e talked about ways we can help bring small businesses back—to give freedom and flexibility to employers, provide opportunities for millions of employees, and get the economy going again.” JCN President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz echoed that sentiment: “Rep. Hultgren’s small business forum and recently introduced tax bill are important steps in identifying the problems facing the nation’s small business job creators and proposing solutions to fix them.”

That tax bill—H.R. 5374, or the Bring Small Businesses Back Tax Reform Act—provides immediate tax relief and reduces the administrative burdens swamping small businesses. It would enable these job creators to more easily expand their business and hire new employees.

Small business owners—and the job-seekers depending on them—need all the help they can get. According to a JCN poll, only one in five small businesses plan to hire new employees next year. And nearly three-quarters of business owners believe they will have a more difficult time conducting business in 2016 than they did in 2015. The poll finds that overtaxation, overregulation, and a lack of access to capital are the major hurdles facing small businesses at the moment. Two-thirds of respondents claimed high taxes threaten the viability of their business, while 60 percent said red tape does the same—making reform all the more important.