Small Business
I am committed to cutting back unnecessary and duplicative regulations, providing relief from job-killing taxes and fees, and working to advance common sense policies that address the challenges facing business owners across Colorado and the country.
Small businesses play a vital role in the health of our nation’s economy, and their importance cannot be overstated. As a former small business owner, I signed the front of a paycheck for 30 years. I know firsthand the struggles and challenges small businesses and entrepreneurs face in today’s economic climate. My experience guides my work in Congress. As Chairman of the Congressional Small Business Caucus, I am working to get government out of the way, so small businesses can do what they do best: create jobs and generate economic growth.
Key Issues:
- Regulatory Reform: Under the previous administration, federal regulations concentrated power in Washington, crippled small businesses, stunted job creation, and shuttered store fronts along Main Streets across America. In Colorado, farmers and ranchers, mom and pop shops, community banks, energy producers, and countless others have struggled to stay afloat as red tape and compliance burdens have consumed their limited resources. In the 114th Congress, I’ve worked to advance policies like the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (H.R. 4596) and the Save American Workers Act of 2015 (H.R. 30), which roll back unnecessary federal regulations, support small businesses, and empower entrepreneurs. I have also supported efforts to restore accountability and common sense to the regulatory process with bills like the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (H.R. 427), which would require Congress to approve any regulation that would have a significant economic impact before it can be enacted.
- Access to Capital: Every day, small business owners work to expand, hire more people, and gain greater market share. Often, the speed at small businesses can expand it vital to their success or failure, so it is critical that small business owners have access to capital. Regulatory requirements from the Dodd-Frank Act are tightening credit offerings from community banks and credit unions. I Introduced the Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk (TAILOR) Act (H.R. 2896) to lift overly burdensome, one-size-fits-all Dodd-Frank regulations on community banks and credits unions. The TAILOR Act would allow community banks and credit unions to focus more of their resources on lending to small businesses in the community, instead of staying in compliance with federal regulations that should never have been applied to them in the first place.