Small Business to Harrisburg: Time to Live Within Our Means

Small business owners urge legislators to balance the state’s books without a tax increase

Contact: Kevin Shivers at (717) 232-8582 or Jason Brewer at (202) 406-4435

Harrisburg, May 5, 2009—Live with your means. That’s the message small business owners from across the Pennsylvania took to the Capitol this morning as part of a two-day small business summit organized by the National Federation of Independent Business/Pennsylvania.

More than 60 Pennsylvania small business owners took the time away from their business to attend the event, culminating in this morning’s meetings with members of the state House and Senate.

"Over the last two years small business owners have had to adapt to just about everything this economy could throw at them—housing collapse, credit crunch, rising unemployment—they’ve weathered the storm by making tough decisions and living within their means," said NFIB state director Kevin Shivers. "All they’re asking of our elected officials is that they do the same."

Shivers said the meetings were coming at a critical time, as the state grapples with a budget deficit and competing strategies regarding how to address it.

"Higher taxes will not fix our economy," said David Cranston Jr, owner of Cranston Material Handling in Pittsburgh. "If the state balances its books by taking more money from small businesses, we’ll end up with fewer jobs and an even bigger imbalance down the road."

Small businesses create two out of every three new jobs in this economy—a statistic many of the small employers attending today’s event cited for legislators.

"We cannot tax our way out of a recession—higher taxes in Pennsylvania will only worsen this crisis," said Shivers.

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