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The 22.9 million small businesses located in virtually every neighborhood in American are the core of our economy. A few facts about small business in America. Did you know that small businesses make up more than 99.7% of all employers. Small businesses create more than 50 percent of the non-farm private gross domestic product (GDP) and employ about 50 percent of all private sector workers. Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses. Small patenting firms produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms. Small businesses make up 97 percent of exporters and produce 29 percent of all export value. Small businesses with employees start-up at a rate of over 500,000 per year. Four years after start-up, half of all small businesses with employees remain open. The latest figures show that small businesses create 75 percent of the net new jobs in our economy. Obviously, the health of small businesses in Senate District 4 is key for our local economy. I celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit in Colorado. I will support pre-small business policies and programs. Colorado is the ideal location to benefit from the "greening" of our economy. I will support programs and incentives to increase investments in "green" businesses. Further, I will support tax incentives for businesses to reduce their impact on the environment, their carbon footprint. I believe the state should support businesses' research and development through tax credits for businesses who perform their R&D in Colorado. Employer and employee health insurance costs. Premiums for employer-based health insurance rose by 6.1 percent in 2007. Small employers saw their premiums, on average, increase 5.5 percent. Firms with less than 24 workers, experienced an increase of 6.8 percent. The annual premium that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four averaged $12,100 in 2007. Workers contributed nearly $3,300, or 10 percent more than they did in 2006. The annual premiums for family coverage significantly eclipsed the gross earnings for a full-time, minimum-wage worker ($10,712). Workers are now paying $1,400 more in premiums annually for family coverage than they did in 2000. Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 100 percent, compared to cumulative inflation of 24 percent and cumulative wage growth of 21 percent during the same period. Health insurance expenses are the fastest growing cost component for employers. Unless something changes dramatically, health insurance costs will overtake profits by 2008. Employer-provided insurance is good for America and Colorado. Unfortunately, many employers can not afford to provide their employees insurance. Others simply choose not to. I will support programs to reward employers who provide insurance to their employees in the form of tax credits. Colorado Minimum Wage is in line with federal minimum wage laws. The State has a COLA increase to automatically adjust minimum wage. I believe the Federal Minimum Wage should be tied to Cost-of-Living Index where the minimum wage would be adjusted annually based on that index. I believe strongly in holding corporate executives accountable for their actions and the actions of their staff. Executives expect to be rewarded handsomely for delivering results. They should have no less of an expectation to being held accountable for fraudulent actions of any member of their organization. Please click the link below to share your thoughts about this issue. Click here to send comments about issue - Business. |
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