Arizona business owners react to Biden’s spending plans

PHOENIX – Some Arizona small business owners are among those worried about the Biden administration’s spending proposals.
Between COVID relief, infrastructure and now the U.S. plan for families, just announced by the White House, these three national spending initiatives total $ 6 trillion. That’s a lot of zeros for entrepreneurs just emerging from a massive economic recession caused by the pandemic.
“I’m not against funding our government. I believe in government. I believe in infrastructure. I believe in policing, and I believe in those things that cost our country and government money and I want to contribute, but I have to be reasonable, âsaid MTJ Electric President Mark Jennings.
He fears that an increase in corporate taxes will hurt his business and, by extension, his employees, as big businesses and corporations are the businesses that hire smaller companies like his electrical outsourcing company.
âAt what point do these people choose to slow down their capital investments and 100% of my income and therefore my livelihood and that of everyone who works for MTJ Electrical is affected by the decisions of these people,â says Jennings.
President Joe Biden has vowed not to raise taxes on households earning less than $ 400,000 a year, but with spending potential of $ 6 trillion, CPA Robert Hockensmith wonders if those calculations add up.
âUsually when a tax law is passed, politicians come out and say, ‘This is going to be paid for by the rich.’ There is not enough tax that the government can take from the rich to cover that,â he says. Hockensmith.
Many small businesses in Arizona are already barely hanging on, says Greater Phoenix Chamber President and CEO Todd Sanders.
âThat kind of uncertainty, along with potentially significant tax increases for some companies, really raises the question of whether or not they’re going to exist. And what does that mean, jobs for Arizona families, âsays Sanders.
For Jennings, maybe not all the ideas offered are bad, but he questions the timing, “I feel really bad.”