Alliance Response to State of the Union Address
The Alliance for Affordable Services was encouraged to hear President Obama address two key issues that Alliance Members have ranked as top legislative priorities:
- Implementing a job creation/new hire tax credit for
small businesses - Implementing an accelerated deduction on capital expenditures for small businesses
The president highlighted these issues during the opening comments of his State of the Union address.
Alliance has helped bring these small-business priorities into the spotlight through recent advocacy work on job creation legislation with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the Governor’s Office of Small Business Advocate in California.
Alliance supports the concept of feasible job creation legislation that will promote economic recovery without adding to deficit spending. Alliance supports legislation that will encourage lending, reduce taxes and fees, and lessen the regulatory burden on small businesses.
Although the Alliance recognizes the president’s reasons for proposing the levying of fees on banks and financial institutions, we are concerned that such fees will further discourage lending to small businesses and the self-employed. We urge President Obama to adhere in his legislative proposals to our belief that the revitalization of small-business owners is the key to the economic recovery of our nation. The Alliance agrees with President Obama’s support of comprehensive energy and climate legislation, but the inclusion of a “cap & trade” component in the present draft of such legislation is not consistent with the views of the majority of Alliance Members.
Finally, while Alliance supports healthcare initiatives that will provide access to quality, affordable health care for American citizens, we are reluctant to support the current draft of health care reform legislation, which contains several components that are not accepted by the majority of Alliance Members.