WASHINGTON – An influential small business lobby unveiled on Tuesday a seven-figure “Vote for Main Street” political campaign to support “small business certified” candidates in the mid-term elections this November.
“Our 350,000 members are frustrated and they are mad. They are sick of hearing candidates saying, ‘I’m for small business,’ then not vote or do anything to support them,” said National Federation of Independent Business President Dan Danner in a call with reporters.
Danner, who is also the NFIB CEO, outlined five criteria for endorsement from the lobby in congressional races: support for a balanced budget amendment; backing for repeal of the annual fee on health insurance providers, a part of the Affordable Care Act; support for defining a work week as 40 hours and requiring federal agencies to analyze the cost impacts of new regulations on small businesses. The NFIB also wants to impose limits on the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate emissions from power plants.
“All of these are proposals that have been already introduced in Congress,” Danner said. “Unfortunately none of them has made it to the president’s desk.”
Danner said the NFIB will spend between $1 million and $2 million for a paid media program aimed not only at its 350,000 members but also their employees, friends and family members.
Ninety-five percent of the small business association’s members are registered and 84 percent vote regularly, a much higher level than the overall population, said Danner.
The NFIB has endorsed Republican Senate candidates in Arkansas, Iowa and Michigan — all seats currently held by Democrats — and in Kentucky where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing a Democratic challenger.