Lincoln Votes to Support Small Business Job Creation

Press Release

As part of a legislative push to improve the ability of Arkansas's small businesses to create new jobs and strengthen the nation's economy, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today voted for the Small Business Jobs Act, which will help establish the right economic conditions for small businesses to create as many as 500,000 new jobs nationwide. In Arkansas, the number of small employers was 51,886 in 2006, which accounted for 97 percent of the state's employers and 48.8 percent of its private-sector employment. This is why Senator Lincoln has consistently used her position on the Senate Finance Committee to write policies that are specifically beneficial to Arkansas's small businesses.

"Small businesses are the backbone of Arkansas's economy, but this recession has made it difficult for small firms to continue functioning as engines of economic growth," Lincoln said. "We've seen a decline in the number of loans made to small businesses, and firms with fewer than 50 employees have continued to experience a reduction in hiring. Congress can take decisive action to give small businesses the tools they need to recover, and this legislation is a step in that direction. Not only will this bill help increase access to capital for small businesses to expand and hire, it will also help create the economic conditions that will allow small businesses to successfully compete with large corporations."

The Small Business Jobs Act:

* Gives small businesses $12 billion in tax cuts;
* Helps small businesses create 500,000 new jobs nationwide;
* Incentivizes and increases small business lending, notably with the creation of a targeted $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund to provide small community banks with capital to increase small business lending, and with $1.5 billion in grants to support $15 billion in new small business lending through state programs that have already proven successful;
* Helps small business owners access private capital to finance an expansion and hire new workers by creating incentives for investors (100 percent exclusion from capital gains taxes on small business investments);
* Rewards entrepreneurs for investing in new small businesses, by doubling the tax deduction for start-up expenditures;
* Helps Main Street businesses compete with large corporations, by preventing small businesses from incurring large tax penalties aimed at large corporations and wealthy individuals investing in tax shelters.

In addition, Senator Lincoln today supported an amendment offered by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) that would repeal section 9006 of the new health care law, striking a provision that would create additional paperwork burdens for small businesses. Senator Lincoln was the first Democratic cosponsor of the amendment.

"I supported the Johanns amendment because I recognize that the health care law is not perfect and I am committed to making improvements to the bill where we can," Lincoln said. "While section 9006 of the health care law was intended to improve tax reporting and reduce the number of IRS audits, I have heard from many Arkansans who strongly feel that complying with this new tax reporting requirement would have the unintended consequence of burdening small businesses that lack the resources to maintain this level of detailed recordkeeping. Senator Johanns' proposal would eliminate the requirement.

"While I believe that improved bookkeeping and reporting standards to the IRS have merit, I also want to ensure that policy changes do not create unnecessary burdens for the small businesses that serve as the backbone of Arkansas's economy."

Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act included a provision that requires businesses to submit a 1099 form to each vendor from which the business has purchased more than $600 worth of products. The bill would require the business to include a copy of the 1099 form in their tax return.

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