Biden will tout ‘small business boom’ in roundtable with small business owners at White House

By Donald Judd, CNN

The Biden administration will release a report Thursday touting what it’s calling a “small business boom” under its watch, while hitting Republicans for policies it warns would “increase taxes on small businesses across the country.”

The 23-page report, shared with CNN on Wednesday, touts encouraging figures on small business creation over 2021, including 5.4 million new businesses, with small businesses creating 1.9 million jobs in the first three quarters of 2021. President Joe Biden will highlight the findings of the report in a roundtable with small business leaders at the White House on Thursday.

In concert with Thursday’s report, the administration is highlighting new steps it’s planning to take to remove barriers to entry for small business entrepreneurs and assist Americans in starting and maintaining small businesses.

To increase access to capital for small businesses, the administration is planning to offer more than $300 billion in loans and equity investments through 2030, expanding Small Business Administration financing programs and funding programs that strengthen ties to small lending banks.

The administration will also increase access to Federal Small Business Programs, investing $100 million in the SBA’s Community Navigator Program, doubling funding for the Minority Business Development Agency and providing an array of technical assistance to ensure that Americans seeking to start small businesses are able to access services available to them. On existing spending, the administration says it will leverage investments, including funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, to increase research and development to support small businesses.

To raise revenue, the White House is proposing a corporate income tax hike, raising rates to 28%, a 15% minimum tax on book income of large, highly profitable corporations and increased enforcement to address tax avoidance.

The report slams a proposed “Rescue America” plan from GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, which it estimates “would increase taxes for 49.7 percent of small business owners,” including 81.6% of small business owners earning less than $50,000 annually. Per White House estimates, small business owners facing a hike in taxes would see a median tax increase of $1,200 a year.

“By combating a pandemic, providing families with greater financial security, and delivering more than $450 billion in emergency relief to small businesses, the administration has helped create the conditions for this unprecedented business and job creation — unfortunately, Republicans in Congress have a different approach,” a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday.

Scott has pushed pack against charges that his plan would raise taxes, telling CNN last month that his focus was on ensuring a “fair” tax code. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has publicly lambasted Scott’s proposals.

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