Keller: A Bill of Rights for small businesses

Keller: A Bill of Rights for small businesses
By Ric Keller
My Word

March 31, 2005

In a place like Orlando that's home to the largest single-site employer in America, it would probably come as a surprise to many that 70 percent of all new jobs created in this country are created by small businesses.

That's why I wrote the Small Business Bill of Rights, the blueprint for this Congress to help small-business employers create more jobs.

Before taking my seat on the House Small Business Committee, I decided to meet with 20 very successful small businesses right here in Central Florida to learn firsthand what Congress could do to help.

I learned a lot by sitting down and listening.

First, I learned that the No. 1 issue facing small-business people today is the skyrocketing cost of health insurance. Thanks to soaring costs, of the 45 million Americans without health insurance, 60 percent are small-business employees and their families.

Currently, small businesses are unable to achieve the bargaining power of large corporations and unions when negotiating with insurance companies to obtain affordable health insurance for their employees.

Small businesses deserve the right to pool their resources and form Association Health Plans -- giving them access to the same health-care benefits now reserved for employees of Fortune 500 companies.

The second thing I learned is that many of these small businesses are family owned. Unfortunately, the death tax causes one-third of all family-owned small businesses to liquidate after the death of the owner. If Congress does not repeal the death tax, then small-business people will go back to paying up to 55 percent in tax rates in the year 2011.

The third thing I learned is that frivolous lawsuits and the rising cost of liability insurance represent a very serious threat to small-business owners. Unlike large corporations, small-business owners do not have the resources to defend themselves against frivolous litigation and are often forced, for business reasons, to settle a claim for $10,000 rather than pay a defense lawyer $100,000 to successfully defend the claim in court.

Small-business owners need to be free from the threat of frivolous lawsuits.

Finally, I learned that burdensome regulations and paperwork cost small businesses more than $5,500 per employee, and these small-business owners understandably want the right to be free of unnecessary, restrictive regulations that prevent them from creating additional jobs.

Much the same way Republicans took over Congress in 1994 with the "Contract With America," the Small Business Bill of Rights is an easy-to-understand contract with our small businesses.

A job is the best social program in the world. It provides income, health insurance and dignity.

Instead of standing in the way of job creation, it's time to ask why Congress hasn't recognized these simple rights small businesses should have had all along

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