News From Congresswoman
Nydia M. Velázquez
Representing New York's 12th Congressional District - Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens
Ranking Democratic Member, House Small Business Committee

For Immediate Release
May 4, 2005

CONTACT: Kate Davis, Allyson Ivins, (202) 225-4038

Velázquez: When Will the President Start Explaining Impact of Social Security Reform on Small Business?
President Bush attempts to scare small businesses into supporting reform

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, Ranking Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, today expressed her disappointment in President Bush’s failure to address how his Social Security proposal will impact small businesses during his visit to the Latino Coalition Small Business Conference.

“It amazes me that President Bush, time and time again, travels around the country touting his Social Security proposal, and every time he fails to tell entrepreneurs what this plan really means for them,” Congresswoman Velázquez said. “The president’s clear failure to provide answers to this nation’s 23 million small businesses on how is plan will affect them is troubling.”

While there has been a great deal of discussion on Social Security reform, there has been little, if any, on how it will impact small businesses. Many small businesses rely on Social Security as their sole source of retirement.

Rather than focusing on the details of his plan, the only issue that was brought up by an attendee in regard to small business was on the payroll tax. The payroll tax is paid in equal amounts by the employer and employee, and is used to determine the amount of Social Security benefits upon retirement. President Bush seemed to allude to the fact that a failure to adopt his proposal would result in a hike in the payroll tax. Congresswoman Velázquez highlighted that the president and GOP Members “are only using the payroll tax to scare small businesses into supporting his plan.”

“The president needs to start laying out how his plan will impact small businesses – many of which rely on the Social Security system for their retirement,” Congresswoman Velázquez said. “The Bush administration needs to stop spending their time scaring small business owners, and spending more time educating them on what their Social Security proposal will mean for their businesses. With the myriad of challenges our nation’s small business owners are already facing – the last thing they need is to worry about how this plan will truly impact their lives.”

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