Joint Hearing before the House and Senate: "Prosperity on Main Street: Keeping Taxes Low for Small Businesses"
2025-04-08
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
I'd like to say good morning to everyone and as we get started with I will lead us in prayer and then Senator Ernst will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. So can you stand please? By your heads. Heavenly Father, God of all people, thank you for allowing us to meet today and discuss great things in this country and do as good a job as we can do under your leadership. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and to serve this great institution. In your name we pray. Amen. Please remain standing. And recite the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Good morning, everyone, and I ask unanimous consent to hold today's joint hearing before the House Committee on Small Business and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Without objection, so moved. I now call the joint hearing before the House and Senate Committees on Small Business to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any time. I now recognize myself for my opening statement. I want to thank our witnesses for being here today. Many of you have traveled a long way to share your experiences and perspectives, and we deeply value your time and your voice. Additionally, I would like to take a moment to welcome our colleagues from the Senate. Both chambers of Congress coming together to conduct this joint hearing underscores the importance of today's topic, keeping taxes low for small businesses. Extending small business tax cuts will drive growth on Main Street America. Today's hearing will focus on the importance of making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanent to continue to enable Main Street to thrive by providing much-needed tax breaks to small businesses. As the nation continues to recover from the Biden administration's disastrous economic policies, this hearing could not come at a more important time. Small businesses are the engine of the American economy. In order to excel, they need to be able to put their hard-earned money back into their businesses instead of forking it over to the federal government. This is especially true when those tax dollars fund an anti-small business government like that of Joe Biden. Over and over again, this committee has heard how the Biden administration's policies have negatively impacted Main Street. Last Congress, a small oil and gas operator testified that the Biden administration was trying to ruin their industry financially. Can you imagine that? Your tax dollars going towards the salaries of bureaucrats only for them to tell you that they want you to lose your life's work. For the sake of small business owners and entrepreneurs across the nation, we re-elected President Trump. Under his leadership, Main Street America is more hopeful than ever, and President Trump's 2017 TCJA was the most significant tax system overhaul since 1986.
These tax cuts brought rapid growth in job creation, U.S. GDP, and domestic investment. Many of the tax cuts in the TCJA are set to expire at the end of this year. This would devastate small business and the U.S. economy at large. Making the provisions that benefit small businesses permanent is critical in sustaining economic growth and fostering an environment where small businesses can succeed. Just last week, a small business owner testified before the House Committee that the TCJA saved his business $11,000 last year, allowing him to reinvest those funds back into his business. This is just one example of why we need to extend President Trump's 2017 tax cuts. Small businesses should enjoy a tax system that encourages their success. In turn, we will see the job creation, innovation, economic growth, and when Main Street America succeeds, the American economy succeeds. With that, I now recognize Chair Ernst for her opening remarks. Thank you, good morning, and thank you, Chairman Williams, and I appreciate your friendship and our ability to work together on behalf of America's small business. I am glad that we can hold this joint hearing of our two committees today to examine an issue that impacts every small business in America. Eight years ago, working alongside President Trump, Congress passed the most significant simplification of our tax code in decades, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, otherwise known as the TCJA. The TCJA provided relief to every American, simplifying and reducing personal income tax and expanding important deductions used by small businesses across the country. These changes have allowed small businesses to thrive and contributed to the incredible growth we saw under President Trump's first term, which led to strong real wage growth for workers, the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, and annual GDP growth that reached 3%.
These tax provisions have also allowed small business owners, including our witnesses today, to grow their businesses and reinvest in their communities and their employees. But the reality is these gains are in jeopardy if Congress allows the TCJA to expire, and Americans would suffer the largest tax increase in history.
Small business owners will be hit particularly hard if the TCJA expires, as over 96% of small businesses are structured as pass-through entities that benefit from the qualified business income deduction and the general reductions in personal income tax rates. The TCJA empowered small business owners to invest in themselves through provisions like bonus depreciation, enhanced business expensing, and the R&D deduction.
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