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Capitol Hill Caucus Meeting Gives Family-Owned Business Leaders a Chance to Talk to Directly with Policy Makers
Seven House Members Meet with Attendees to Hear Critical Issues affecting Family-Owned Businesses; New Research Revealed
Earlier this month I spent several days on Capitol Hill attending this year’s first Congressional Family Business Caucus. The atmosphere surrounding our nation’s capital can best be described as quiet chaos.
Over 70 family business leaders and others attended the mid-March Caucus, along with seven Congressional House Members and all this as the country was on the verge of having no budget, the stock market shrinking, and new tariffs being added, or dropped, daily.
The Congressional Family Business Caucus was formed three years ago and is a bipartisan, educational Caucus intended to bring awareness to the issues facing family-owned businesses.
This meeting, a breakfast panel discussion on women-owned family businesses, featured eight women-owned family business owners, as well as presentations on latest research from our Family Enterprise USA Annual Family Business Survey, and new consumer attitude research from our chief communications strategist and pollster, Dr. Frank Luntz.
The seven House members who stopped by to speak with, or greet, the attendees were Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV), Stacey Plaskett, (D-VI-AL), Brad Sherman, (D-CA), and Brad Schneider, (D-Ill). The others who attended and listened to family-owned business stories were Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN).
Last year, the Caucus was co-chaired by Reps. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). It has approximately 50 members and, with each new Congress it is hopeful that co-chairs will be announced soon.
This year, a key message we wanted to relay to Congress was the strength of women-owned family businesses, and the special challenges they face.
Women-owned businesses represent nearly 40% of all U.S. businesses — more than 14 million businesses in total – and account for $2.7 trillion in revenue, according to Wells Fargo Bank’s 2024 “Impact of Women-Owned Business Report.”
The women-owned family businesses that spoke at the Caucus started with Debbie McKee, the namesake of Little Debbie Cakes, based in Chattanooga, Tenn. She was followed by Kimberly Smith, President of Pipeline Development Company, Strongsville, Ohio, Angela Simmons, owner and manager of ABS Legacy Partners, and Policy and Taxation Group Board member, and Rosana Biondo, President, Mark One, in Kansas City.
These speakers were followed by Cheryl Osborn, founder of Casco Contractors, Irvine, Calif., Meghan Hanna, Evolve Wellness, based in Orange County, Calif., Bridget Herdman, Herdman Architecture & Design, Corona del Mar, Calif., and Junette McCarthy of McCarthy Wealth, Newport Beach, Calif.
Men who spoke at the event were Ken Monroe, President of Holt of California, Stockton, California, and Robert Mancuso, Chief Executive Officer, Capri Capital Partners, Palm Beach, Florida.
Off and Running
One of the main features of the Congressional Family Business Caucus is to get a reading on the current political state of play and then to meet with specific House Members in their chambers.
The starting point in understanding how Congress works is to get to know the new Members of Congress, many of which were not in office when the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed.
Russ Sullivan and Mark Warren of the law and government relations firm, Brownstein, detailed the new players in town, while Caren Street and Michael Hawthorne, of Squire Patton Boggs, another top law and government relations firm, discussed how best to deliver key family-owned business messages across to their House Members.
New Family-owned Business Research
Attendees were also privy to preliminary research results from our annual national study of family businesses, presented by FEUSA Director of Engagement, John Gugliada.
As we compile the full Family Enterprise USA Annual Family Business Survey, here are some quick snapshots of the results
The survey once again showed that family-owned businesses survive better than most businesses. Early results show that 82% have been in business for 20 years or more, and 33% have been in business for between 50 and 100 years.
In addition, 90% of family-owned businesses pay their employees above average or average wages and benefits, with 48% paying above average.
When it comes to the critical tax policies affecting America’s family-owned businesses, the most concern centers on high income taxes. The survey found 47% mentioned personal income taxes as their number one most important issue or concern. This is a 15% jump from our survey last year, which had 41% of respondents saying personal income tax rates were a top concern.
The second most important issue was the Estate, or Death, Tax, which registered as number one with 14% of the survey respondents. This is down from 19% last year.
The worry over Capital Gains remained steady at 12% and was ranked third as a top concern. Last year, the survey found 13% mentioning this as a most important issue.
High Trust Factor
In another survey, 1,000 consumers were polled for Family Enterprise USA by our communications expert, Dr. Frank Luntz, who filled the room with 20 West Point Cadets touring Capitol Hill with him.
Highlights from this report reveal family-owned businesses are 78% more trusted by consumers than regular corporations.
The survey also found the American Dream lives on with family-owned businesses.
The Luntz survey found that 91% of respondents believe family-owned businesses are what’s great about America, that is, “the idea that you can start something from nothing and pass it on to the next generation.”
The most important finding in this survey might be that American’s agree that it is “unfair that family-owned businesses pay a higher tax rate than regular corporations.”
When asked this question, 84% agreed with the premise that “family-owned businesses should not have to pay more in taxes than corporations.”
To those who attended this first Caucus meeting for family-owned businesses one thing became very clear: you must engage with your legislative leaders on a personal, one-to-one basis if you want your message heard.
There is nothing stronger than looking your representative in the eye, in their office, on their turf, and telling them what is important to you, the taxpayer, and family-owned business leader.
Sometimes they even listen.
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Policy and Taxation Group is the Voice for Family Offices and Successful Individuals in Washington, DC focused exclusively on the critical tax and economic policies that impact them.
Since 1995, Policy and Taxation Group has been the leading advocacy group working to reduce and eliminate estate tax, gift tax, and generation skipping transfer tax while blocking increased income tax and capital gains taxes, the creation of a wealth tax, and other hostile tax policies that punish hardworking taxpayers and success.
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