A Government Shutdown Harms Small Business

News provided by

Sep 27, 2023, 11:20 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Small Business Association (NSBA) is urging lawmakers to avoid the political theatrics behind a government shutdown which could spell disaster for America's smallest businesses. Millions of small businesses do business directly with the federal government and a shutdown would mean they won't get paid—regardless of what services and goods they've already supplied. Furthermore, government shutdowns have historically succeeded in only two things: weakening the U.S. economy and confidence in our elected officials.

Below is a statement from NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken.

"While Members of Congress and their staff will, in all likelihood, continue to get paid, millions of small-business federal contractors and subcontractors will be impacted by contract delays, stoppages and cancellations. The trickle-down effects cannot be understated: every business in their supply chain, their employees and their families WILL feel the pinch of a government shutdown – they always do.

"If lawmakers fail to keep the government running, they should, at a minimum, support measures similar to those extended to federal employees to 'make whole' any federal contractor impacted by a shutdown.

"Small-business programs, such as those under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), particularly their lending programs, will begin to experience long delays due to the absence of staff and inevitable backlog of approvals.

"These backlogs and delays have real-world implications: forcing capital-strapped small-business owners to choose between hiring an employee or providing health insurance; or forcing the smallest of businesses to spend money they don't have on accountants to provide the assistance typically provided by the IRS.

"A small handful of elected officials are manufacturing a crisis out of partisan discord with a focus solely on grandstanding. This is unfair, unreasonable and unacceptable."

Please click here to read NSBA's letter to Congressional leaders.

Celebrating more than 85 years in operation, NSBA is a member-driven nonpartisan organization advocating on behalf of America's entrepreneurs. NSBA's 65,000 members represent every state and every industry in the U.S., and we are proud to be the nation's first small-business advocacy organization. Please visit www.nsba.biz and follow us at @NSBAAdvocate.

SOURCE National Small Business Association