Tell Congress Where You Stand - Act Now
‘Being There’ Key to Congress Knowing Family Business Messages; New Research Shows Shift in Priorities to Healthcare, Wealth Tax
New Rate Reduction Bills Look to Balance Unfair Estate Taxes
There is something to the old Woody Allen quote that says “80% of success is showing up.”
If you want something done In Washington, D.C., that number is likely closer to 100%.
A big part of showing up for family-owned businesses comes in the form of the Congressional Family Business Caucus, which is now back in order. After a strong March meeting, we are now set now for its second meeting on June 9 on Capitol Hill.
House Members, Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), a Democrat from Southern California, and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), a Republican representing Upstate New York constituents, are the new co-chairs of the bipartisan Caucus.
The March meeting focused on “Affordability Strategies for Family-Owned Businesses,” while the June meeting’s theme is: “Fuel for Growth: Capital Solutions for Family Businesses.”
One lesson we’ve learned over the years advocating for family businesses is you simply must “show up.” You need to be on The Hill and you must walk the halls of Congress to get your message heard.
But showing up is not so easy.
In the most recent Family Enterprise USA Annual Family-Owned Business Survey it was found a shocking 74% of family business leaders “have not” met their congress Member.
When we walk the halls of Congress with family businesses after our Caucus meetings, we find House Members and their staffers are more than willing to meet with us and are happy to listen to us. Many have no idea how powerful family businesses are in their districts, how many employees they have, or how they contribute substantially to their local community.
We’re on The Hill daily and we’re talking with House and Senate members, gauging their interests, explaining our family-owned business challenges. Many Congress Members are new, and their staff members are young. It’s about constant education.
Just showing up, being the squeaky wheel, makes a huge difference.
Research Shows Priority Shift
Priorities change, but now they’re changing so dramatically, and so fast, it’s getting hard to track.
As the newest research findings are being tallied from the 2026 Annual Family-Owned Business Survey we’re noticing some profound shifts.
Last year, the survey had the “usual suspects” of economic concerns: reduce the national debt (32%), reduce income taxes (23%), and reduce regulations (16%).
This year’s survey, conducted among 710 respondents in the first quarter, wiped those concerns away.
Now, family business owners say their top economic policy priority is healthcare, with a whopping 51% saying this was their top concern. Last year, healthcare didn’t rank at all.
The fear of new “Wealth Taxes” ranked number two of economic concerns, with 22.5% saying this was their top worry. Last year, it only concerned 6% of family businesses.
The top worry last year, the National Debt, came in a lowly third place this year, with only 13% saying this concerned them. It’s a big drop from 32% last year.
Rate Reduction Act: Dying Gets Expensive
Today, it can be vastly more expensive to die than to make money on investments.
The federal estate tax – or death tax – has a top rate of 40% and is the highest rate in the U.S. tax code!
The estate tax is imposed on the fair market value of a decedent’s estate (after the lifetime exclusion), not just the appreciation while the taxpayer owned the property.
Adding insult to injury, the federal estate tax applies a 40% rate on the full value of the taxable estate, while the capital gains rate tops out at 20%.
Family business owners should not be subject to a higher rate at death than they would have paid on the sale of the business while they were alive.
There is a bill in the House right now, The Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act (H.R. 601) that would lower the estate-tax rate to 20%, providing critical relief to family businesses across the nation.
It’s a bipartisan issue too.
“The Death Tax is an unfair double tax that could force the next generation to sell their family business – on which they’ve paid a lifetime of taxes – to pay another tax simply because of a family member’s passing,” says Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) about the bill. “Penalizing Americans who work their entire lives, build successful businesses, and seek to pass down a better life to their children and grandchildren is the antithesis of the American Dream.”
On the Democratic side of the aisle, Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) introduced the bipartisan Estate Tax Reduction Act.
As part of the bill’s introduction, Rep. Bishop said: “When Americans have rolled up their sleeves, worked hard their whole lives to provide for their children and take care of their loved ones, and built family small businesses that drive local economies and feed our nation, the tax code should be fair and not stand in the way of one generation leaving the next a better life.”
An estate-tax rate of 20% encourages family-owned businesses to keep investing in their enterprises and expand, producing more jobs and revenue and preserving their ability to pass the business on to the next generation.
Taxing family-owned businesses at 40% does the opposite.
It forces owners to spend scarce capital on complex estate planning and costly insurance coverage to prevent the sale of all or parts of the business just to pay the estate tax.
This capital could be reinvested in the business, supporting critical jobs, and contributing to economic growth.
The Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act cuts the U.S. estate tax from 40 to 20%, reducing the tax burden on family-owned businesses and allowing business owners to invest more of their hard-earned money in expanding their operations and creating jobs.
It’s time to make sure our lawmakers hear this message loud and clear and show up for family-owned businesses.
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The need for fact-based reporting of issues important to family offices and successful families and protecting a lifetime of savings has never been greater. Now more than ever, family offices and successful families are under fire. That’s why Family Enterprise USA Action is passionately working to increase the awareness of issues important to family offices and successful families, while continuing to strengthen our presence on Capitol Hill.
Family Enterprise USA Action engages with legislators on Capitol Hill on behalf of family offices, successful families, and family-owned businesses. It is focused exclusively on the critical tax and economic policies that impact them. Since 1995, FEUSA Action has been the leading advocacy group working daily in Washington, D.C., to reduce and eliminate estate tax, gift tax, and generation skipping transfer tax while blocking increased income and capital gains taxes, the creation of a wealth tax, and other hostile policies that punish hardworking taxpayers and success in the U.S. It is a bipartisan 501.c4 organization.
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