[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1777-E1778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SMALL BUSINESS JOBS ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. EARL POMEROY

                            of north dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2010

  Mr. POMEROY. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5297--Small 
Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, a bill that brings billions of 
dollars of tax relief and access to capital to small businesses.
  Helping North Dakota businesses create jobs is one of my top 
priorities. In North Dakota, small business is business. Nearly 80 
percent of North Dakotans work for companies with less than 500 
employees and 60 percent work for companies with less than 100 
employees. Small businesses are a proven engine of job creation. During 
the last economic expansion, companies with less than 20 employees 
accounted for 40 percent of the job growth while accounting for only 25 
percent of all jobs.
  Today, we give this engine of job creation the fuel it needs to 
charge forward.
  Surveys of National Federation of Independent Business members 
identified the number one economic concern facing small businesses as 
poor sales stemming from a lack of demand from consumers. This has been 
their top concern since the recession and most recently 31 percent of 
respondents reported poor sales as their most important problem. 
Beneath this response is the fact that many small businesses want to 
borrow but cannot. So, they need help with capital too.
  To help small business, I introduced bipartisan legislation, the 
Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act, which would generate demand for 
products and services while putting more capital into the hands of 
small businesses.
  One of the lingering difficulties is that many small businesses have 
limited access to the capital they need to operate, grow, and create 
new jobs. By providing small business tax relief, Congress can free up 
money, which will help small businesses feel that they can hire new 
employees and make investments in new equipment that will build demand 
for goods and services. I am pleased that tax cuts from the bill I 
authored are in key components in this bill before the House today.
  One of the several good measures in H.R. 5297 that will generate the 
demand that our small business need to grow is bonus depreciation. It 
is one of the best ways to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Bonus 
depreciation accelerates the rate at which businesses can deduct the 
cost of capital expenditures so it encourages companies to spend while 
it boosts company cash flows.
  Economists rate bonus depreciation as one of the most economically 
productive tax initiatives. In a 2001 analysis, the Institute for 
Policy Innovation estimated that every $1 of tax cuts devoted to 
accelerated depreciation generates about $9 new growth in the economy. 
Looking back at times when bonus depreciation was used to encourage 
capital investment, economists determined that it was responsible for 
creating several hundred thousand jobs.
  Out in our small towns, many Americans are creating job opportunities 
for themselves and for others by starting new small business. We need 
to encourage this spirit of free enterprise. The Small Business Lending 
Fund Act of 2010 will help new start-up businesses in two ways that I 
heard from North Dakotans would be helpful and included in my bill:
  1. The bill would double the current amount a start-up business can 
deduct, so that a new business owner could deduct $10,000 of expenses 
he or she might have incurred to set up shop. Without the bill before 
us today, that deduction for start up costs would be limited to only 
$5,000; and
  2. The 100 percent exclusion from tax of gains on small business 
stock in H.R. 5297 would expand the access to capital for small 
business across the county.
  This bill also reduces the regulatory burden on small business by 
modernizing the tax accounting required for business provided cell

[[Page E1778]]

phones and eliminating outlandish penalties for abusive tax shelters.
  Small businesses are most likely to conduct business while they are 
away from their offices. Nine out of ten small businesses indicate they 
use mobile phones for their business and one in seven feel that their 
businesses could not survive without mobile devices. The Internal 
Revenue Code still contains paperwork requirements for wireless phones 
from the 1970s. Rather than spending money on accountants and the costs 
associated with an IRS audit, H.R. 5297 allows small businesses to 
spend it instead on creating jobs.
  While the Internal Revenue Service must stop abusive tax shelters, 
today will vote to eliminate a disproportionate effect that some tax 
penalties have on small businesses. No longer will small businesses 
face outlandish penalties for failing to disclose on their taxes 
reportable transactions. The bill brings such penalties into proportion 
with the underlying tax savings and does not put business owners out of 
business.
  In conclusion, I would like to thank Chairman Levin for including 
small business tax incentives, especially bonus depreciation, and 
relief from excessive regulations that I authored in the bipartisan 
Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act in the final bill that we vote 
on today.
  The Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010 is good for North Dakota 
small businesses. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on H.R. 5297.

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