• Update: Paperwork Relief on Its Way

• House Vote to Make Pension Tax Breaks Permanent

• Hearing Held Last Week on Rising Costs of Health Care

Update: Paperwork Relief on Its Way

The National Association for the Self-Employed has worked long and hard to reduce the paperwork burden for micro-business owners, and now victory is in sight.

Last week the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 327, the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act. As previously reported in Washington Watch, the Senate gave its support to the bill a few weeks ago.

The bill will require the Office of Management and Budget to post regulatory requirements in the Federal Registrar and on its Web site.

"The paperwork burden imposed on small businesses by the Federal government is very time consuming, and expensive, and it's growing every year," said Rep. Dan Burton (R-IL), chairman of the Government Reform Committee and original sponsor of the bill. "This legislation will help small businesses navigate the maze of Federal forms and save valuable time and money."

H.R. 327 will also:

• Require each Federal agency to establish a single point of contact for small businesses that need assistance
• Require each agency to make further efforts to reduce paperwork for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees
• Require that each Federal agency produce two annual reports detailing enforcement actions taken and civil penalties assessed against businesses and individuals
• Create an interagency task force to make proposals for streamlining reporting requirements and electronic filing systems

The bill received bipartisan support and the backing of both business and consumer groups. President Bush is expected to sign the bill soon.
 

House Vote to Make Pension Tax Breaks Permanent

Micro-business owners and the self-employed are one step closer to taking advantage of permanent pension and retirement plan tax breaks. The NASE is working diligently for tax reform that will place micro-business on a fair and equal playing field with larger corporations.

Last week the House passed H.R. 4931. This bill would make the pensions and retirement plan tax breaks that were included in President Bush's tax cut package last year permanent. The provisions, like the Estate tax and the rest of the package, are set to expire at the end of 2010 unless Congress votes to renew them.

The tax cut law increases the limit on annual contributions to traditional and Roth IRAs from $2,000 to $5,000. It also raises the limit on annual benefits under defined-benefit pension plans to $150,000 in 2002 and $160,000 in 2005. In addition, it increases the amounts employers could put into defined-contribution plans.

H.R. 4931 is unlikely to reach the Senate this session. The NASE will closely monitor the progress of this issue.
 

Hearing Held Last Week on Rising Costs of Health Care

Concurrent with the release the NASE survey, "Affordability in Health Care: Trends in American Micro-Business" last week, the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing to discuss the rising costs of health care and its affect on the employer-based health care system.

"Rising health costs affect people's ability to afford health insurance," said Dr. Paul Ginsburg, the president of the Center for Studying Health System Change. "When insurance premiums rise faster than workers' wages, fewer people obtain employment-based health insurance. This happens through small employers deciding not to provide coverage to their employees and employees deciding not to take up employer coverage because the employee contribution is too high."

Witnesses testifying at the hearing discussed the factors contributing to the rise in health care costs as well as innovative solutions employers are currently using to deal with these increased costs.

 

Have you checked out the NASE's "Affordability in Health Care: Trends in American Micro-Business" survey? The NASE released the results last week at an event with several members of Congress. The findings provide empirical evidence to the crisis in access to affordable health coverage for the self-employed and micro-business owners.

Do any of these issues affect you? Visit the NASE's Legislative Action Center  and "Tell Your Small Business Story." This will help the NASE understand - on a personal level - how key legislative issues are affecting your business and your bottom line.

For more information about any of the articles in Washington Watch, contact Maureen Petron, NASE public affairs manager, at (202) 466-2100 or mpetron@nase.org.