Washington, D.C.-The Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) has released its annual scorecard which rates how members of Congress voted during the 107th Congress on key small business issues. SBSC also has ranked the states according to the average scores achieved by the members of their respective congressional delegations.
"With small business being so important for the economy across the nation, it is important to know which states are sending pro-small business members to Congress and which are not," said SBSC President Darrell McKigney.
SBSC's scorecard rates lawmakers based on 15 key votes in the U.S. House of Representatives and 15 key votes in the U.S. Senate impacting small businesses. Included in this year's ratings are votes on such issues as reducing taxes and regulations, death tax elimination, capital gains tax relief, expanding U.S. markets overseas, reducing dependence on foreign energy, and making health care more affordable. The state scores are simply the average scores of all of the House and Senate members in each state delegation.
The state averages ranged from a high of 97% for Idaho to a dismal 3% for the Massachusetts delegation. As noted in the table below, the top five congressional delegations voting in favor of small business were: 1. Idaho, 2. Alaska, 3t. New Hampshire, 3t. Wyoming, and 5. Kentucky. At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom five were: 46. Vermont, 47. North Dakota, 48t. Hawaii, 48t. Rhode Island, 50. Massachusetts.
SBSC Chief Economist Raymond J. Keating added: "Small businesses provide the bulk of innovations, goods, services, and jobs in our economy. And while practically all members of Congress say they support small businesses, their voting records sometimes reveal a different story. In particular, high tax and regulatory burdens take a big toll on small businesses, their employees, and therefore, the economy in general."
SBSC's Congressional Scorecard can be downloaded from SBSC's website at www.sbsc.org SBSC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy group with more than 70,000 members across the nation. For more information, please call SBSC at 202-785-0238.
