Shutdowns harm Small Business. Full stop. NSBA urges Congress to choose compromise for a spending plan ahead of expiration Dec. 20.
UPDATE 19 DEC. 2024, 2:15 PM ET | NSBA has sent a letter to the four corner leaders Members of Congress, including the Speaker, Ranking Member, and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House and Senate, respectively, urging Congress to act to ensure the government remains funded after Dec. 20.
Read the full letter urging action to avoid a shutdown here.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024
Contact:
Molly Day
202-552-2904
NSBA Urges Congress to Avoid a Government Shutdown and Pass Spending Bill
Washington, D.C. – The National Small Business Association (NSBA) is calling on Congress to come back to the table to quickly pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) spending bill. After growing criticism over the course of the day yesterday—often based on misinformation—it became clear that the original bipartisan agreement did not have sufficient votes to succeed. This gives lawmakers just slightly over 24 hours to pass some kind of provision to avoid a government shutdown.
Further complicating matters for America’s small business, this failure to pass legislation once again creates uncertainty and concern over compliance with the unconstitutional Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement. For years, NSBA has fought hard against the CTA and yesterday’s CR included much-needed language to delay by one year the requirement to file BOI reports.
Below is a statement from NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken.
“Government shutdowns are deeply damaging to the U.S. economy, spreading uncertainty and directly impacting countless small-business owners and their employees who are performing services or providing goods to the federal government with no payment coming in. While lawmakers will continue to get paid, America’s job creators are left holding the bag and trying to scramble to take care of their employees.
“NSBA and the millions of small businesses it advocates for felt a huge wave of relief yesterday, only to have the carpet yanked from underneath us. From its inception, NSBA has warned against the CTA which could force well-intending small businesses to pay fines up to $591 per DAY and up to two years of jail time. And while our lawsuit and others following it have provided some relief, there is widespread confusion and frustration about the BOI reports, who must file them and when.
“Instead of fixing this major problem—failure to move this spending agreement forward has only created more confusion and frustration. We need Congress to pass this bill, avoid a shutdown and delay the CTA.”
Click here for NSBA’s CTA Resource page.
Celebrating more than 85 years in operation, NSBA is a staunchly nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of America’s entrepreneurs. NSBA's 65,000 members represent every state and every industry in the U.S. Please visit www.nsba.biz or follow us at @NSBAAdvocate.
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