Have you ever noticed sponsorship signs at local schools, charities, fundraisers and other community-related sites? There are some big company names listed, as many large companies have generously donated funds to Jeff Davis Parish causes. Mostly, though, the same names and businesses appear year after year, names of residents or locally owned businesses.
Our small businesses keep Jeff Davis Parish running. The majority of our gas stations are locally owned. How inconvenient would it be for you to fuel your vehicle without all those stations? What if our locally owned restaurants shut down? Would you always want to drive outside the parish for a prepared meal?
There are so many ways our daily lives would be affected if local, small businesses shut down. From clothing stores to car dealerships; grocery stores to beauty salons; and coffee shops to flower shops, we would not only face job shortages, a dramatic drop in sales tax revenue and a loss in a variety of services. Really, we would have no reason to live here because everything we need and want would be located outside the parishes or at least several miles from our homes.
Those reasons are why we all need support Stop the HIT (Health Insurance Tax). This is a coalition that is trying to repeal a portion of the federal health care act scheduled to take effect in 2014. The tax, which will be levied on large insurance companies, would generate $87 billion in its first 10 years. But those billions will be paid by small businesses and, ultimately, all of the working class.
According to HIT Advocate Melissa Landry, most small businesses seek insurance through large companies. Because the HIT would be passed on by larger insurance companies to those small businesses, small business owners are looking at paying an extra $500 per year per employee.
Landry said public support would be necessary to repeal the tax that stands to take $87 billion from the pockets of small businesses, including Louisiana’s 391,535 small businesses that employ 1,655,200 workers.
True, the tax would affect small businesses with 25 or more employees, and a lot of local businesses employ less workers than that number. All of our small businesses benefit from one another’s success, though.
Let’s stand behind our small businesses by helping to stop the hit. To sign a petition, sign up for email updates or to find out how to contact an elected official, visit www.stopthehit.com.