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In an attempt to distance herself from the economic ruin she helped create, Vice President Kamala Harris is positioning herself as a small business candidate. That's a good strategy, considering there are over 33 million small businesses in the United States, and dozens more when entrepreneurial temp workers are included.
But you can't just wave a magic wand and become someone. Comparing the Biden-Harris policies of the last three and three-quarter years and her campaign proposals, it is clear that Harris is, in fact, the anti-small business candidate.
While being an entrepreneur is always challenging, small business owners have had a particularly difficult time over the past five years. They have borne the brunt of business shutdown orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while they have seen large businesses receive more support and thrive.
Harris' struggles with working-class voters in Michigan provide an opportunity for Trump and the GOP
Coming out of Covid, Biden-Harris policies have helped fuel historic inflation, which has created a huge set of challenges for small business owners (as well as Main Street Americans).
Vice President Kamala Harris may claim to be a supporter of small business, but the reality in the Biden-Harris administration is very different. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Biden-Harris administration is estimated to have increased the regulatory burden on small businesses to the tune of $1.7 trillion, costing small businesses over 300 million hours of regulatory compliance.
Perhaps for this reason, the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business), which conducts a monthly small business optimism survey, found that the index has remained below its historical 50-year average for 33 consecutive months.
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Another blow to small businesses is Harris' stance on independent work. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration repealed the Trump-era independent contractor rule, and in 2024, the Biden-Harris Department of Labor implemented alternative, restrictive contractor labor standards. This is important not only for those entrepreneurs who want to work flexibly, but also for small companies that rely on contractors.
Harris also made clear that she supports the PRO Act, which includes much of the anti-independent contractor language in California's AB 5, which seeks to strip away job flexibility nationally.
Harris's flagship proposal, ostensibly to demonstrate her support for small businesses, is to increase credit for startup expenses. Not only is this proposal opaque, but it also focuses exclusively on new business entities and completely ignores the more than 33 million existing small businesses in America.
Her other proposals are directly harmful to small business owners. She said she would let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which provided tax relief to many small businesses and included a qualified business income deduction for some small businesses, expire as well. She also said she plans to raise income tax and capital gains tax, among other things, which will result in existing small businesses paying more of their hard-earned money to the government.
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When it comes to laws like the Corporate Transparency Act's Beneficial Ownership Information provisions (CTA BOI) that designate small businesses as financial criminals, Harris has shown no solidarity with small business owners. There's a bill stalled in the Senate to delay the CTA BOI, as well as other delay and two repeal bills proposed in Congress, and she could give that effort a pro-small business vote if it was truly her priority.
Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and deserve to be treated with respect, not used as political pawns. Kamala Harris' actions are very clear, no matter what she says, she is no friend of small business.
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