Testifying before a full Ways and Means Committee hearing, Republican witness Mr. Alfredo Ortiz, President and CEO of Job Creators Network, warned that Democrats’ threat of crippling tax hikes, more inflationary spending, and the persistent worker shortage are disproportionately harming minority families and small businesses.

“While there’s little doubt there’s been historic racism in America, I find it insulting when people claim it’s the basis for minorities’ challenges in today’s economy. The best antidote to the remaining vestiges of racism is the free-market system that rewards entrepreneurs of all backgrounds.”

Click here for the full testimony.

Mr. Ortiz shared that under Republican tax reform, people of color and minority businesses got ahead with more jobs and higher wages:

• “Two-thirds of new job growth is in the hands of small businesses, and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made it easier for small businesses to succeed by taking their tax rates down, and applying the 20 percent deduction to their purchases of hard assets.
• “This was true, real change for these small businesses. […] That is why minorities in many communities across the country succeeded.”
• “Unemployment rates fell to record lows. More than six million people emerged from poverty. Income inequality fell as wages for minorities grew far faster than whites. 
• “Minority household incomes reached record highs. And home ownership, especially amongst Latinos, reached record levels.”

Democrat proposals are failing the people who need it the most, Mr. Ortiz said:

• “…The biggest threat facing minority entrepreneurs today is runaway inflation … According to the Job Creators Network’s Small Business IQ monthly poll of American small business owners, inflation is twice as problematic as any other hurdle they face today..“
• “Generous social programs have depressed the labor market, leading to the biggest labor shortage in American history.
• “Radical green environmental policies have prevented oil and gas production, raising costs for all small businesses. 
• “Expanding government programs, as proposed by many here today, would only make this devastating inflation worse. 
• “Last, President Biden’s proposed tax increases and labor regulations would disproportionately impact small businesses, reducing their ability to expand, hire, and raise wages for minority employees.”