[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 169 (Thursday, October 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6807-S6808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TAX REFORM

  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, as you may know, small businesses are 
thriving in one of the best economic climates that we have seen in 
several years. The National Federation of Independent Business's Small 
Business Optimism Index for August saw its highest reading ever over 
its 45-year history and the MetLife and Chamber of Commerce's most 
recent quarterly Small Business Index found that a substantial majority 
of small business owners have a positive outlook of their business and 
of the overall economy.
  I believe that this uptick in small business confidence is due in 
large part

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to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that passed the Senate and was signed into 
law last year. Over the 9 months since its passage, our country has 
witnessed the positive impact that the law has had on our economy. 
Companies of all sizes have directly benefited from various provisions 
of the law and as a result are paying out bonuses, raising wages, and 
purchasing new equipment for their businesses. As chairman of the 
Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I was a strong 
supporter of the tax law because I believed it would allow small 
business owners to keep more of their hard-earned money, make more 
investments in their businesses, and increase the overall health of our 
economy. Over the last few months, I have been making this series of 
speeches to draw attention to the benefits this law provides for small 
businesses.
  Since passage of the law, many observers have given too much 
attention to individuals and corporations that have benefited from 
certain provisions of the law, but not nearly enough attention has been 
given to the benefits that small businesses have received. I rise today 
to spotlight how tax reform is benefiting Sko-Die, Inc., a small 
business located just outside of Chicago in Morton Grove, IL. Sko-Die, 
Inc., provides their customers with high-quality steel laminations, 
heavy gauge metal stampings, and machining services. From design to 
production, the company provides original equipment manufacturing 
services for a variety of sectors including the food, power generation, 
medical, and aerospace industries. Sko-Die is a family-run business 
started in 1947 by the Steininger family. The current president, 
Patrick Steininger, has led the company since 2002 and is the third 
generation of the family to helm the company. Sko-Die has about 70 
employees, boasts a 60,000-thousand-square foot production facility, 
and operates numerous punch presses ranging in size from 5 to 300 tons.
  Because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, this family-owned custom metal 
stamping business has been able to pass on some its tax savings to 
employees, raising the average wages of its employees by about 3 
percent. Sko-Die also made a $1 million investment in new equipment, 
which included a new die grinder and a new metal press. Before the 
implementation of the new tax law, small businesses had to deal with a 
complex expensing formula that took many years to take advantage of, 
which made equipment purchases much less attractive to small business 
owners. The accelerated depreciation of equipment purchases for small 
businesses is one of the many reasons that I was a strong supporter of 
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
  Overall, the new tax law has been good for small businesses; has 
allowed many small businesses to increase their capital investments, 
hire additional workers, and increase wages; and will lower small 
businesses' annual tax payments. I am happy to see that small 
businesses like Sko-Die, Inc., are able to reduce their tax burden by 
making use of this accelerated depreciation provision and are using 
those tax savings to raise its employees' wages. I look forward to 
watching the company's continued success.

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