FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Frank Knapp, Jr., co-chair of Small Business for America’s Future and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce
Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2021—We applaud the corporations that have pledged to halt donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who opposed certification of the presidential election earlier this month. The willingness of these elected officials to perpetuate myths of election fraud and undermine our democracy for personal political gain is appalling. We hope withholding political contributions that fuel their races will provide them with a painful moment of clarity: American business leaders value democracy and will not stand with those who try to bring it down.
The question now is, what will become of the millions of dollars that these large corporations usually funnel into PACs to support these lawmakers? Our suggestion is these funds be diverted into efforts aimed at helping the country’s suffering small businesses make it through the pandemic.
Under the Trump Administration, large corporations got favorable treatment—most notably from a sweetheart tax law worth trillions in tax cuts—and reaped enormous profits while small businesses were a political afterthought. Now that small businesses are facing an existential crisis, there would be a measure of justice in large corporations taking the dollars that normally would fund pro-big business GOP politicians and investing them in Main Street’s survival.
Our surveys have consistently shown that small business owners expect the Covid-19 pandemic to take an economic toll well into 2021, and that as many as a third of them are at the end of their financial rope. That is a desperate state of affairs for the 30 million small business owners in this country who employ nearly half of all American workers. Many could use a helping hand to survive.
In normal times, large corporations fund some programs and philanthropic endeavors to boost entrepreneurship and small business. This is the year to supercharge those programs with the collective funds that would have otherwise gone to these 147 politicians. Helping struggling small businesses now is a far better use of these campaign dollars than simply holding onto them for political contributions later.
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Contact
Conan Knoll
conan@emccommunications.com
(831) 524-6764
About Small Business for America’s Future
Small Business for America’s Future is a national coalition of small business owners and leaders working to provide small businesses a voice at every level of government. We’re committed to ensuring policymakers prioritize the nation’s 30 million small businesses to create an economy that works for them, their workers and their communities. Visit www.smallbusinessforamericasfuture.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. #SmallBizAF.