Nfib is unique. We represent the little guy. Small businesses and independent Business Owners. Our average member has five to 10 employees. They are very small. They are in all industries and all over america. One of the key things about nfib is you have to be an independent business owner. We have no publicly traded companies at all. We are truly a memberdriven organization. We were created 75 years ago under the principle and the guiding the guide of one member, one vote, and we follow that today. Members every year vote their ballot at the federal and state level and they set policy for nfib. We dont sit in a room in d. C. And decide what is good for Small Business. They tell us and we take that to the state capitals and the hill 50 to lobby on their behalf. Pedro when it comes to going to the hill what is the main , message you delivered at the white house if you have that kind of relationship . Brad one things most policymakers dont understand is that Small Business makes up half of our economy and half the job growth. Reminding them how important Small Business is to the wellbeing of the country, to employment, growth and all of that and then reminding them that Small Businesses are different. They are small, they are momandpop, they are familyrun. They are in smaller communities. Having a onesizefitsall policy from washington that may be great for large corporations can actually do a lot of harm to Small Businesses. Pedro will that apply to the tax cut recently . Brad that is a great point. We started out that debate pushing congress and the white house to make sure they did not forget about Small Businesses. We heard a lot of talk about cutting corporate rates, cutting overseas rates. Half the economy is Small Businesses and most of those Business Owners are not incorporated. They dont pay the corporate rate. They pay their taxes through the individual tax returns. Making them realize they need to look at Small Businesses separate from large corporations, we got there and we got a 20 Small Business deduction created and individual rates came down. We had some kind of equanimity and fair rates between the two sides. Pedro the larger one clearly got the advantage. Brad we think, especially in that it is permanent. Corporations went from a 35 to a 21 rate. Good Public Policy, we dont have a problem with that, but it was made permanent. Whereas the Small Business tax cuts on the individual side were not made permanent. They expire at the end of 2025. They have to be renewed. Our biggest legislative priority right now is Getting Congress to realize that these provisions can expire. They need to be made permanent. Pedro what happens to the average business if is not made permanent . Give me an example. Brad the rates will reset. So they are going to see anywhere from probably a 10 to 15 increase in their individual rates. They will lose the 20 deduction which right now is allowing Small Business owners to keep more money in the business rather than sending their money to washington. Significant tax increases will happen. Pedro this Administration Made a big deal about regulation, at least reducing the amount of regulation. Does Small Business see that . Brad they do. There are two main areas we have seen it benefit. One has been the tax bill and the other is the regulatory or deregulatory agenda. We think those two, those two issue areas are what is driving the Small Business economy right now. When we came towards the end of 2016, Small Business optimism picked up very high. Right . We started hitting higher records, but it was based on soft economic numbers like hope and optimism. We think things are going to get better. After some of the regulations got rolled back, and specifically after the tax bill was signed, we saw a change in that economic index and how our members reacted. We saw high numbers but it was hard economic numbers. They were investing in business they were hiring, they were , paying more, sales were up, inventory was up. They were growing and buying new equipment. We have seen a change based on those areas at the Small Business level. Pedro we will talk more about the state of Small Business with our guest. If you want to ask questions, you can do so. If you live in the eastern and central time zones, 202 7488000. If you live in the mountain and pacific time zones, 202 7488001. If youre a Small Business owner and you have a question for our guest, it is 202 7488002. You can make thoughts on our Facebook Page and twitter feed. The previous segment featured an about themoody talked state of Small Business. I want to review the quote. Job growth healthy but slowing. Small businesses are suffering from the brunt of the slowdown. Hampering job growth, labor shortages, layoffs in brickandmortar and fallout from weaker global trade. Would you agree . Brad we are not seeing that it that at all. When you look at wall street and the market going up, it can be very chaotic. The Small Business economy is thriving. When you look at it on a pure size basis, it is the number three economy in the world behind the u. S. Overall economy and china. They are doing really well. The numbers are great. For over two years, our Monthly Economic index has been at beend levels, and it has record levels as businesses are growing. They are hiring, paying more inventories buying more , equipment. They feel things are going well so we would not agree with that sentiment. Pedro what do you attribute that growth to . Brad the economic climate has been great. The tax cut bill was phenomenal for them, and they feel that washington is getting out of their way finally. That would be the deregulation agenda. But they have a lot of pent up Economic Growth demand. They are doing it right now and they are really happy. Pedro when he was on just recently, one person said an issue was large businesses, especially corporate retailers like amazon and walmart. What has been the competition like and what has been the response of the Small Businesses to be competitive . Brad Small Business owners, their biggest problem right now is finding qualified workers. It is what you are seeing for all businesses. That is their biggest impediment to growth. It is not regulations. It is not taxes or government policy. Larger businesses have other things they care about. Maybe overseas issues, taxation issues from overseas. Our members, five to 10 employees, they are in every industry. They are momandpop grocery stores, auto mechanics, farmers, small construction shops, small doctors practices they are doing , well. Pedro to what degree are they getting squeezed up by larger retailers . Brad it depends where you are. If you are in a bigger city larger retailers definitely , would have an impact. When a Big Box Store moves in that can hurt local retailers for sure. The internet has helped. More and more Small Businesses are selling their goods on the internet. Not primarily but they have added that and that has helped when they have lost some sales to larger retailers. Pedro our guest with us until 9 30. The lines are available if you want to call. We will start with the calls. Chris in florida. Chris, you are on with our guest brad close of the national , federation of independent businesses. Caller good morning. I would like to make a comment. I have owned the business for 20 years. My husband was in manufacturing. He continues to be a consultant after the plant closed in indiana. I have a unique perspective in that i was the chairwoman for my husbands job. Most people in Small Business have a tremendous burden on them also social security. Burden on them when it comes to health care also social security. When you are a Large Company you , pay 7 social security. When youre an independent contractor, you pay 15 . Own healthy for your insurance. And as you age, if youve had anything happen to you in the past 10 years, you are going to have a preexisting condition. You are looking at approximately 2000 per month for family. Ok, and that is two people. That is my first comment. My second comment is to the last guest, the reality of the country, and that is that globalization is detrimental to this country. Pedro we will leave it there because you are referencing the last guest. Brad you brought up a good point on payroll taxes. What most people dont realize is employers pay half the federal fica taxes. They pay 7. 6 . And then employees pay the other 7. 6 . If you are selfemployed you, as an independent contractor, so proprietor, you pay the whole thing. Twice the tax, 15. 4 . That is on top of your individual tax rates any other , local or state taxes. Its a significant burden on small proprietors who are selfemployed. Ones how do generally the you were present deal with health care and provide to their employees . Brad health care is our number one issue in our surveys going back 20, 30 years. It is the most expensive benefit, the most extensive expensive things Business Owners need for themselves and their employees. It is very hard. One of the we have looked at is things we have looked at is how do you make it easier for them to get policies . One of the things that has come out in the last two years was an extension of the shortterm health care plan. Under obamacare these were curled back curtailed significantly. The Current Administration has allowed those to continue for three years. We find more and more Small Business owners are buying shortterm Health Care Policies to get them through two or three years as they get ready to fight something different. Health care is the most significant cost driver outside of running your business on a business monthly basis for Small Business owners. Pedro from houston, roberto is next. Caller yes. I would like to tiein something not shared in the last segment that was related to Small Business. It is regarding to the banks belly up or about to belly up. Do business accounts have more protection than the rest of us . We just have 250,000 protected. We have more than that, we are going to lose it. The lady put it in terms of, are we going to bail them out . The answer is no. If we dont we will lose our , money. They are also concerned about their health but also their money in the bank. So what do you all have more coverage than we do, the regular people do, or are you in the same boat we are in . Brad on credit, one of the things we have seen for years, especially since the big recession in 2008 and 2009 is that Small Businesses by and large are not interested in taking on new debt. What happened in the recession as wall street kind of cratered, a lot of the big banks started shedding smaller accounts. A lot of those happened to be Small Business accounts. We heard from thousands who lost their line of credit, their loans for no problem. They were perfectly a rated credit. They lost them because the banks did not want that Small Business anymore. It shapes how they look at debt and credit going forward. And the vast majority of Small Businesses right now dont want to take out new debt. They dont credit and they are perfectly happy with their credit needs right now. A lot of that is a reflection of what they went through 10 years ago. Pedro we have a Small Business administration. How is it performing for Small Businesses . Brad they provide a loan program. It can be very bureaucratic to get those loans. 7a loan program. A lot of businesses use them. By and large only about 2 to 3 of members actually access those programs. Usually they tell us they dont access them because of the paperwork, the regulations. How hard it is to get them. Most Small Businesses when they are starting out, they just max out a bunch of credit cards. That is how they get started. Borrow from their friends, borrow from their friends or their 401 k . That is how they get started, and they try not to accumulate debt after that. Pedro eric in maryland. Go ahead. Caller good morning, gentlemen. I wanted to make a comment. Im pleased to hear this segment come on. He painted a grim picture today. I live in maryland. Im in the Small Business office. Ive heard there is a Record Number of new registrations for Small Businesses. I wanted to say it is good to hear, refreshing to hear the truth right now being discussed in the Overall Health of Small Business in this country. Thank you. Brad this is where, you know more than half the jobs are , created and where the Economic Opportunity is for folks. Especially after the recession people realized they needed to , go into business for themselves. Either as an independent contractor or start their own business with employees. It is a significant driver for the economy. Our numbers for the last two years have been phenomenal. Our Monthly Economic index is looked at by the fed every month, it is looked at by wall street by banks. , they quote the numbers. We have been charting the economy quarterly and monthly since the early 1970s. And they are showing record high areas in lots of areas. I appreciate we are hearing firsthand from an owner in maryland who is seeing the positive growth. Pedro several president ial candidates have the desire for a 15 minimum wage. What is your reaction . Brad minimum wage is a tough issue. Small Business Owners really care about employees and want them to get ahead. They Small Business is by definition a family business. Right . Small Business Owners want to see them get paid well and see their employees succeed. Unlike large businesses, Small Businesses work shoulder and shoulder with their employees day in and day out. Right now in america most small , businesses pay over the current federal minimum wage. But when you look at increasing it to 15, that is almost doubling it and too much for them. Pedro a representative talked about her city of seattle imposing a 15 minimum wage and the effect it has. We want to hear her comments. Get your reaction to it. [video clip] this is a big day. Today we passed the first minimum wage increase for workers in decades. Yes, i am proud to represent seattle, a leader in the fight for 15. I served on the committee that drafted the legislation that passed ultimately. It has been four years since seattle raised the wage. And i want to tell my colleagues across the aisle what that increase has been. Seattle is flourishing. Today we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. And jobs are growing steadily. Last year, forbes ranked seattle the number one best place for business and careers in 2018. And despite the doom and gloom predictions from the National Restaurant association when we passed the bill, what we have seen what the Seattle Times is what the Seattle Times called a crazy restaurant boom. New jobs created every year. The most recent and Credible Research shows lowwage worker went up without any negative impact on employment. Local food prices remain constant so that families can better afford to buy healthy food. When we increased the minimum wage in seattle, we got strong businesses, Healthy Families and flourishing communities. All American Workers deserve the same thing. Raise the wage today. Pedro that is one citys perspective. Brad we opposed that minimum wage increase in seattle. It was raised to 15. Our Economic Modeling showed it would result in significant job loss. And then economic hit the Small Businesses. A couple of years ago after it went into effect, the university of washington did a study because the State Government asked them to do a followup. They came up with the same results we said would happen. What was interesting is when the results came out that showed job loss and economic hit, the State Government decided to deep six the study did not use it. But it confirmed our research that minimum wage has unintended consequences. It does cost jobs. It does cost Economic Growth. Pedro she gave a glowing presentation as far as the effect. Brad that is right. A lot of what she had t