New York, January 28-More than one-quarter (26%) of small business owners identified tax relief as the most pressing issue the new Congress and the President should address, according to the Small Business Monitor by OPEN from American Express.
The survey, which ranks small business public policy concerns, found that improving their ability to offer or expand healthcare benefits is the most pressing issue for one in five (20%) small business owners.
Keeping interest rates low and reducing required government paperwork and regulation tied as top issues for 14% of respondents, followed by improving access to small business financing (7%), improving procurement opportunities (5%) and improving the ability to conduct more business with the government (also 5%).
Start-ups – companies in business for three years or less – are three times more likely to cite improving access to small business financing as a pressing issue, compared to small businesses overall (24% vs. 7%). Female business owners are more than twice as likely to cite improving procurement opportunities/doing business with the government (12% vs. 5%).
Enterprises with larger numbers of employees are more likely to want improvements in their ability to offer or expand healthcare benefits (32% of those with 50 - 99 employees, and 27% of those with 20 - 49 employees, vs. 20% of small businesses overall).
"Tax relief, access to financing, and healthcare benefits are recurring policy issues in the small business arena," said Susan Sobbott, president, OPEN from American Express. "Business owners are focused on growth and are confident in their abilities to grow their own companies, but we're seeing that a diverse cross-section of businesses are clearly looking to policy makers for support and solutions on critical policy issues."
In a 2002 survey released by OPEN from American Express at the beginning of the last Congress, 33% of small business owners put tax reform at the top of their priority list, followed by providing affordable healthcare coverage (30%), reducing onerous regulations and improving access to financing – both 14%.
