Congress should pass ‘The Small Business and Family Relief Act’

To the editor:

The health insurance provider provision included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while levied against health insurance companies, will end up forcing 1.7 million small businesses to pay $500 more for each health insurance policy they purchase. That doesn’t seem like it is making things more “affordable” for small businesses. Moreover, when small businesses suffer, the nation suffers.

Small businesses already pay enough in taxes and insurance, and we can hardly make a living as it is. I fear that this extra expense will force more of us to close our doors. I am a general contractor who offers a wide variety of home remodeling services to individuals here in the valley. Because of the state of our economy, there’s a big demand for affordable home repair. My costs for materials are already so high that it’s difficult for me to raise prices on the average homeowner. It’s also difficult to pass costs on to employees these days, as they can barely make it at $10 an hour. At some point, the cost of taxes and insurance will start coming out of my bottom line.

We need entrepreneurship in America, partly because the biggest corporations cannot reach all the small industries that we have out here. We have lost much of this entrepreneurial spirit because we don’t have enough people who can start up a small business due to the costs. This is a shame because we have so many talented people in our country. Furthermore, self-employed individuals and small business owners get involved in local activities that help keep our neighborhoods together. I work as a fireman and an EMT, mostly as a volunteer. I’m also involved in helping low income people get into homes through Habitat for Humanity. Big corporations cannot always be here in the trenches helping out.

I hope that Americans can communicate to Washington, D.C., just how much we need our small businesses. It seems as though the working people’s opinions are all too often missed on these issues. I have been a member of the community board off and on over several years, so I have some understanding of how difficult decisions can be for elected officials. However, this is an easy choice. Congress must enact H.R. 3367, “The Small Business and Family Relief Act,” to delay for two years the tax on health insurers which will, in turn, help small businesses.

David Hale

Hale Construction

Palmer