VP Pence Pledges Support for Small Business, Continued Health Care Reform Efforts

At a meeting in West Virginia Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) head Linda McMahon sat down with local small-business owners to discuss the issues facing their businesses.

“President Donald Trump is going to be the best friend American small businesses will ever have,” Pence told the group, pledging to change the tune of Washington politicians who have “not been listening” to small-business owners.

Pence and McMahon held conversations with the small-business owners to discuss their recent successes and challenges as well as the president’s agenda on regulation, taxes, health care, trade and energy. Following the meeting, which took place at Foster Supply Inc. in Depot, West Virginia, Pence addressed a group of hundreds gathered inside the company’s warehouse.

Addressing plans to cut the corporate tax rate, Pence told small-business owners to expect a cut to 15 percent that will spur American companies to invest in American operations and jobs.

“We’re going to roll our sleeves up and cut taxes across the board for working families, small businesses and family farms,” Pence said. “Working with this Congress, President Trump is going to pass the largest tax cut since the days of Ronald Reagan and get this economy moving again.”

Many of the small-business owners in attendance expressed concern over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) stifling the growth of their businesses. While the Republican’s proposed plan to repeal and replace Obamacare failed to pass Congress last week, Pence told the group that when Republicans and Democrats finally come together, the administration will be ready to “get the job done.”

While some small-business owners express concern over the costs associated with the ACA, a recent poll shows that the majority still favor the ACA over the Republican’s proposed American Health Care Act. The scientific opinion poll, conducted for Small Business Majority by Chesapeake Beach Consulting, showed that roughly half of respondents (49 percent) said they would choose the ACA over the AHCA.

Last week, The House of Representatives passed the Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 1101), a bill that would allow small businesses that purchase coverage through the small group market to band together and offer employee coverage through association health plans (AHPs). Proponents of the bill say AHPs will provide small employers more options for offering competitive and affordable benefits to their employees. H.R. 101 passed through the House with only four Democrats voting in favor, suggesting the bill may face a tough time in the Senate.