By Gwen Fishel
Following yesterday’s motion by the Senate to proceed on the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act, Sen. Kay Hagan (D- N.C.) told reporters Wednesday that she is optimistic about the passage of the bill.
Hagan said that helping small businesses succeed should be a bipartisan issue. She argued that the bill could create some 27,000 jobs in North Carolina, and 1 million jobs nationally by providing small businesses incentives for hiring and making investments.
“Jobs continue to be my number one, number two, and number three priorities,” Hagan said.
The legislation would give small businesses a 10% tax credit on all new hires, and would extend the 100% bonus depreciation rates for company assets for one full year.
“It will help in particular small businesses that are the economic engines of communities,” Hagan said.
A vote on the bill could come as early as Wednesday evening.
In addition to the bill, the White House unfurled several new executive actions and proposals in hope of aiding small businesses.
These actions include shortening the amount of time it takes for the government to pay small business subtractors, allowing small businesses to take tax write-offs for up to $250,000 in capital investments, making it easier to access/receive higher loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), narrowing application processes for surety bonds and the SBA’s Disaster Loan Program, as well as new regulatory reforms that would make it easier for investors to fund small businesses.
National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling described the new initiatives as the lastest in a series of steps the administration has taken to help small businesses.
“This president, when it’s come to small businesses, has always taken the all of the above approach, meaning that he has passed 18 tax cuts for small businesses… [and] taken repeated efforts to expand access to capital,” Sperling said to reporters.
