Friday, April 17, 2015

Will Hillary Clinton be Good for Small Business Owners?



What Having another Clinton in the Whitehouse Could Mean for Businesses

hillary clinton, small business
Its official – Hillary Clinton will be making her second run at the White House for the 2016 Presidential Election.  This former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State has always put her best foot forward with her stance on social issues and foreign policy, but Clinton has also made it clear that her stance on economic issues will be front and center during the upcoming campaign. If recent statements are any indication of what is to come, her proposals will meet the small business world with mixed reviews.

Clinton on Minimum Wage

During her time in the Senate, Clinton was a strong supporter of increasing minimum wage. Her stance is that raising the minimum wage would help everyone, especially women, who make up a large portion of the force working minimum wage jobs. Keeping the federal wage minimum down holds back individuals in the workplace and thus has a negative effect on our economy. Clinton strongly believes in this fight and even slammed Congress last year for not taking action on wage-related issues. This is a sore point for some small business owners, as they believe a higher minimum wage will raise their labor costs so high that they will be forced to go out of business.

Clinton on Women in Business

During Clinton’s first presidential run, she outlined her stance on women’s issues and made a statement concerning the rules being proposed by the Small Business Administration during the Presidency of George Bush – her statement was that these rules would make it exponentially harder for women-led businesses to secure government work. At the time, women-lead businesses made up one third of all small businesses in the county but were only receiving three percent of available federal contracts.

Fast forward to today, and not much has changed – women-led businesses still make up one third of all small businesses but are only pulling in about four percent of federal contracts. In 2008, Clinton stated, “As president, I will ensure that women-owned small businesses receive the federal contracts they deserve and that the SBA expands opportunities for women business owners.” Time will tell if she will make the same promises for this year’s election but, chances are, her views have not changed.

Clinton on Tax Loopholes

Clinton has always been critical of the current tax system throughout her entire time in the political spotlight. One area that is she most critical of is the loopholes that exist, benefiting wealthy individuals and large corporations. While her stance has been clear for some time, she has not announced a plan of action to reform the tax code. Her husband, Bill Clinton, made news recently by stating that the United States must lower their corporate tax rate, which has climbed to among the highest in the world.

It is important to note that small business groups have been against changing the corporate tax code without plans to also adjust the individual tax rate – this rate determines the amount paid by small business owners whose companies are organized as pass through entities, such as an S Corporation. Additionally, business groups urge politicians to remember that raising taxes for the wealthy will also affect small business, since many small business owners fall into the highest tax brackets.

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*Photo Courtesy of Mike Mozart via Creative Commons License

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