Press Releases

NEWS For Immediate Release Washington, D.C. – Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) president & CEO Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement after House Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act: “SBE Council applauds Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans for passing the Limit, Save, Grow Act – legislation that is important to securing our nation’s fiscal […]

Fed Expected to Push Interest Rates Higher   by Raymond J. Keating – Given the Federal Reserve’s agenda of trying to slow the economy by jacking up interest rates and regional bank failures like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, what’s the state of small business credit these days, and perhaps looking ahead? In my […]

Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity On World IP Day 2023, we celebrate the role intellectual property (IP) plays in bolstering entrepreneurship, innovation, economic growth and quality job creation.  We stand in support of WIPO’s goals: “Everyone, everywhere can use IP rights to protect their technology, brands and creativity.” We invite Congress to join […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest report from the Conference Board showed that consumer confidence declined in April. Consumer confidence has been sliding since December of last year. In fact, the general direction has been down since the middle of 2021. Consumer Confidence Index fell in April to 101.3 (1985=100), from 104.0 in March […]

Will the Sunshine State Go Digitally Dark on Small Business? In a Small Business Insider blog post, SBE Council president & CEO Karen Kerrigan laments complex and costly state-by-state legislative activity on laws governing privacy. SBE Council has long advocated for a national governing framework. Kerrigan writes: “We warned this would happen. That is, if Congress […]

by Karen Kerrigan –  As I remarked in a recent CNBC interview, “Congress often acts when what we said would happen actually does and it all erupts once the impact becomes real and painful.” That is certainly the case with the inability of small businesses to immediately expense R&D (amortization over a five-year period is […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest state employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noted, “Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 2 states and was essentially unchanged in 48 states and the District of Columbia in March 2023.” However, when you dig into those “essentially unchanged” states, a story might be developing, specifically, […]

NEWS For Immediate Release Washington, D.C.  – Today at 10:00 a.m. ET, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) is holding a nomination hearing for Julie Su, who has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. In a letter to Senate HELP […]

by Raymond J. Keating – The latest edition of the Federal Reserve Beige Book provides more bad news on the economy. The report opened: “Overall economic activity was little changed in recent weeks. Nine Districts reported either no change or only a slight change in activity this period [with three reporting slight declines] while three […]

Senator Bernie Sanders Chair Senate HELP Committee 428 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510   Senator Bill Cassidy Ranking Member Senate HELP Committee 520 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510   Dear Chairman Sanders and Ranking Member Cassidy: Independent entrepreneurship and self-employment are important paths to financial wellbeing and personal flexibility. This positive […]