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Arslan: “Long-Term Policy Solutions Are a Recipe for Innovation and Job Creation”

Washington, D.C., October 5, 2011 – Despite the heightened rhetoric about America’s small business community fueling economic growth, this critical business sector has been largely left out of the policy discussion pertaining to the President’s American Jobs Act and our national debt. Kristie Arslan, President & CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed, the leading advocate for our nation’s smallest businesses - the self-employed and micro-businesses - offered the following situation analysis as our policymakers struggle to get our economy back on track: 

“It’s politics as usual in Washington – the fight over the President’s jobs bill leaves America’s unemployed and underemployed wondering if Washington actually gets it. Our policymakers like to claim they want to help the small business community, but don’t take action to back it up. The economic outlook for our nation’s small businesses – the self-employed and micro-businesses – is bleak even if we avoid the threatening double-dip recession. Giving small businesses the support they need to turns things around should be a top priority that rises above party politics up on Capitol Hill.

“Too many of the current policy proposals are focused on what Washington sees as the job-producing class – the wealthiest Americans – who are clearly not creating jobs with or without generous incentives. We need a national self-employment initiative to help America’s smallest businesses survive the current economic turmoil and help some of the nine million people who are out of work to join their ranks. The initiative should prioritize simplifying the tax code and creating tax parity for self-employed businesses,  direct small business financing to startups and the self-employed, foster entrepreneurship education in secondary schools as well as colleges and universities, and assist all states in launching a self-employment training program to be available to unemployed residents.  These long-term policy solutions are a recipe for innovation and job creation in our nation.” 

In a recent interview with McClatchy, Arslan argued that the jobs and tax discussion has focused on support for the larger corporate businesses, not the small business community. With the majority of all small businesses containing just 10 or fewer employees, Arslan noted that relatively inexpensive, small fixes to the tax code could have a profound effect on providing support for American’s smallest businesses. Creating long-term tax and economic policy instead of implementing short-term fixes can foster long-term growth.