The tax burden small businesses, farmers, ranchers and their workers face is far too high.  Every dollar Washington takes from small businesses is a dollar they do not have to invest in equipment, start a new production line, hire a new employee or provide more in wages and benefits.  Businesses aren’t growing and hardworking Americans are seeing stagnant wages and fewer work hours.  This is unacceptable.

It seems these days that Congress can rarely agree on much.  So, when we can find some common ground to help grow the economy and get businesses to invest and hire new workers, we should act immediately.  The legislation we have before us today, “America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2014,” would do just that by providing a permanent extension of Section 179 expensing at a level of $500,000.  

Section 179 is a bipartisan provision that has been in place since the 1950’s.  But, businesses, farmers and ranchers cannot reap the full benefits when they have no idea if the provision is going to be around the next year, or what it may look like.  This hurts their ability to plan for the future and expand their business.   

The Farm Bureau recently stated, “This practice makes it very difficult for farmers and ranchers to plan and adds immense confusion and complexity to the tax code.”  It is time to make Section 179 permanent at an expensing level of $500,000 so American farmers, ranchers and small businesses can invest in new equipment, grow their business and plan for the future.

Sure, House Democrats, many who have sponsored this legislation before, are now demanding that we pay for an extension of these policies – despite voting year after year to extend these job-creating policies without being paid for.  Frankly, the millions of Americans searching for a job or a few extra dollars in their paycheck know that pro-growth policies like this pay for themselves in the form of new investments, new jobs and higher wages.  I think we all can agree that this is the right policy and we should set the rhetoric aside so we can have an America that works, with a strong, vibrant economy.

By supporting permanent policies, Washington can promote certainty for American businesses and generate additional economic growth.  We have become too accustomed to poor jobs reports, anemic growth, and just accepting the status quo.  Small business expensing has been a bipartisan policy for decades, and its time to make it a permanent part of the tax code.  Washington needs to wake up, start listening to the American people and act on real policies that strengthen the economy and help hardworking taxpayers.  Today’s legislation will do just that.