[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 29, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S816-S817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE:
  S. 233. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 
the

[[Page S817]]

deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.


                   THE SMALL BUSINESS ENHANCEMENT ACT

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I introduce legislation designed to 
help America's small business. This legislation will assist small 
businesses by increasing the tax deduction for health care coverage, 
requiring an estimate of the cost of a bill on small businesses before 
Congress enacts the legislation, and creating an assistant U.S. Trade 
Representative for Small Business.
  Small business is the driving force behind our economy, and in order 
to create jobs--both in my home State of Maine and across the Nation--
we must encourage small businesses expansion. Businesses with fewer 
than 10 employees make up 77 percent of Maine's jobs, and nationally, 
small businesses employ 53 percent of the private work force. In 1995, 
small businesses created an estimated 75 percent of the 2.5 million new 
jobs. Small businesses truly are the backbone of our economy.
  Small businesses are the most successful tool we have for job 
creation. They provide about 67 percent of the initial job 
opportunities in this country, and are the original--and finest--job 
training program. Unfortunately, as much as small businesses help our 
own economy--and the Federal Government--by creating jobs and building 
economic growth, government often gets in the way. Instead of assisting 
small business, government too often frustrates small business efforts.
  Federal regulations create more than 1 billion hours of paperwork for 
small businesses each year, according to the Small Business 
Administration. Moreover, because of the size of some of the largest 
American corporations, U.S. commerce officials too often devote a 
disproportionate amount of time to the needs and jobs in corporate 
America rather than in small businesses.
  My legislation will address three problems facing our Nation's small 
businesses, and I hope it will both encourage small business expansion 
and fuel job creation.
  First, this legislation will allow self-employed small business men 
and women to fully deduct their health care costs for income tax 
purposes. This provision builds on legislation enacted during the 104th 
Congress, the Health Insurance Reform Act, which increased the health 
insurance deduction for the self-employed from 30 to 35 percent this 
year and will gradually increase it to 80 percent by the year 2006.
  My bill will allow the self-employed to deduct 100 percent of their 
insurance today. It will place small entrepreneurs on equal footing 
with larger companies by immediately increasing a provision in current 
law that limits deductions to 35 percent of the overall cost. At a time 
when America is facing challenges to its health care system, and the 
Federal Government is seeking remedies to the problem of uninsured 
citizens, this provision will help self-employed business people to 
afford health insurance without imposing a costly and unnecessary 
mandate.
  From inventors to startup businesses, self-employed workers make up 
an important and vibrant part of the small business sector--and too 
often they are forgotten in providing benefits and assistance. Indeed, 
9 percent of uninsured workers in America are self-employed. By 
extending tax credits for health insurance to these small businesses, 
we will help to provide health care coverage to millions of Americans.
  My bill will also require a cost analysis of legislative proposals 
before new requirements are passed on to small businesses. Too often, 
Congress approves well-intended legislation that shift the costs of 
programs to small businesses. This proposal will ensure that these 
unintended consequences are not passed along to small businesses. 
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small business 
owners spend at least 1 billion hours a year filling out government 
paperwork, at an annual cost that exceeds $100 billion. Before we place 
yet another obstacle in the path of small business job creation, we 
should understand the costs our proposals will impose on small 
businesses.
  This bill will require the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office to prepare for each committee an analysis of the costs to small 
businesses that would be incurred in carrying out provisions contained 
in new legislation. This cost analysis will include an estimate of 
costs incurred in carrying out the bill or resolution for a 4-year 
period, as well as an estimate of the portion of these costs that would 
be borne by small businesses. This provision will allow us to fully 
consider the impact of our actions on small businesses--and through 
careful planning, we will succeed in avoiding unintended costs.
  Finally, this legislation will direct the U.S. Trade Representative 
to establish a position of Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for 
Small Business. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is 
overburdened, and too often overlooks the needs of small business. The 
new Assistant U.S. Trade Representative will promote exports by small 
businesses and work to remove foreign impediments to these exports.
  Mr. President, I am convinced that this legislation will truly assist 
small businesses, resulting not only in additional entrepreneurial 
opportunities but also in new jobs. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this legislation.
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