Are Your Members of Congress Small Business Friendly?

Check the Facts on SBE Council's "Small Business Scorecard for the 111th Congress" 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Out on the campaign trail, all candidates and incumbents love small business. After all, according Gallup, only the U.S. military surpasses small business as being most trusted in America.  The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) is advising the public that sometimes the talk doesn't match up to the voting record of individual Members of Congress. This is especially the case with legislation important to small business.  

SBE Council released its Small Business Scorecard for the 111th Congress to get beyond the "talk" and posturing. The scorecard can be found on the SBE Council website at www.sbecouncil.org.  (Click on the "Small Business Scorecard" icon.)  A scorecard "quick finder" is also available -- a map of the U.S. that allows visitors to click on each state to see how their U.S. House and Senate Members cumulatively scored on small business KEY VOTES.

"The scorecard is a solid measurement of how Members of Congress voted on issues important to entrepreneurs," said SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan. "Politicians often talk a good game of supporting small business and entrepreneurship, but how they actually vote on legislation is what really matters," she added.

For the 111th Congress, SBE Council scored members of the U.S. Senate on 27 key votes, and members of the U.S. House of Representatives on 22 votes.  The votes include a wide range of issues relating to taxes, health care, workplace mandates, government spending and more.

In addition, SBE Council has ranked each state delegation, based on average scores, on overall "small business friendliness." Wyoming, Oklahoma, Idaho, Nebraska and Utah round out the top five in terms of having the most small business friendly delegations.  The Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont and Rhode Island delegations are the worst.  

SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit: www.sbecouncil.org.

Contact: Mabel Vaught, Karen Kerrigan (703)-242-5840, or [email protected]

SOURCE Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council