Small business is generally understood as the engine that fuels our country's economy, responsible for the majority of private-sector jobs. In fact, 99.7 percent of all firms in the United States are small businesses employing fewer than 500 employees; 89 percent employ fewer than 20 employees.
What is less known, yet unsurprising, is that California comprises key components of that engine, surpassing every other state. Of the total 27 million small businesses in America, for example, an estimated 3.4 million of them originate in California, with runner-up Texas at 2.1 million. Remarkably, those 3.4 million California businesses represent 99.2 percent of our state's private employers.
This is critical context for understanding the Democratic Party's last major accomplishment before adjourning before elections. In enacting the Small Business Jobs Act, we helped ensure the economic viability of California's future, as well as that of our nation.
In the wake of the financial crisis that hit our markets hard in 2007 and 2008, it became increasingly difficult for small businesses to gain access to lending. Big banks remain reluctant to lend, and the lack of loans is one of the main reasons small business has been unable to put some 15 million unemployed Americans back to work. Recognizing the essential role small business can play in reigniting a flagging economy, this $30 billion bill establishes a vital lending stream for small entrepreneurs and provides an additional $12 billion in tax cuts.
None of this raises taxes or adds a dime to our deficit or debt -- unlike the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which continue to be entirely deficit funded. In contrast, the Small Business Jobs bill saves money, makes Main Street businesses more competitive with big corporations by leveraging up to $300 billion in private sector lending, and creates 500,000 jobs -- exactly what our communities require.
No surprise, then, that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Small Business Association, and even Republican Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and George LeMieux of Florida supported the bill. Voinovich, regarded by Senate Appropriations Committee colleagues as a "debt hawk" for his hard-nosed fiscal approach, and LeMieux, ranking member on the Senate Commerce Subcommittee for Competitiveness, Innovation and Export Promotion, rightly recognized the potential detriment to commerce and competitiveness if we failed to pass this bill.
This bill is about keeping businesses, like small manufacturers, afloat and able to expand as the economy recovers -- the urgency of which must not go understated. For California, with an unemployment rate of 12.4 percent, and for Santa Clara County, at 11.1 percent, this is paramount. This is why I fought for this bill.
The Republican Party, in contrast, continues to blindly protect the big-business interests on Wall Street rather than the small-business interests of Main Street. Every small-business-centric component of the bill -- the expansion of access to capital, the spurring of investment and growth, the promotion of entrepreneurship and exports, and the promotion of fairness in competition -- represents a Democratic Party priority and a platform we must continue to pursue.
Not only is small business entrepreneurship the engine fueling our economy, it is the heart of what built America. Small business needs us more than ever, which is why Democrats spared no effort in passing the Small Business Jobs Act.
MIKE HONDA represents the 15th Congressional District and serves on the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice and Science. He wrote this article for this newspaper.