{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://morrison.house.gov/media/press-releases/ahead-small-business-saturday-us-rep-kelly-morrison-introduces-bill-provide", "Ahead of Small Business Saturday, U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison Introduces Bill to Provide Immediate Tariff Relief to Small Businesses", "2025-11-25", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Kelly Morrison", "M001234", "morrison.house.gov", "morrison", "https://morrison.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "OSSEO, MN \u2013 Today, ahead of Small Business Saturday, U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) introduced the Small Business Restoring Equity for Local Importers through Economic Fairness Act \u2013 the Small Business RELIEF Act\u2013 which would exempt small business owners from Trump\u2019s global baseline tariffs and provide refunds to the small businesses who were forced to pay them. Small businesses across the country are at a breaking point due to these exorbitant tariffs, and are being forced to raise prices, lay off staff, or close entirely.\n\nRep. Morrison, a member of the U.S. House Small Business Committee, introduced this legislation with Representative Chris Pappas (NH-01) and it is endorsed by Small Business Majority and Main Street Alliance.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s tariffs have placed enormous financial strain and stress on so many hard-working small business owners, and it\u2019s long overdue for Congress to act,\u201d said Congresswoman Morrison. \u201cI\u2019ve heard from many small business owners: small businesses desperately need relief from the Trump Administration\u2019s tariffs. Congress needs to reclaim its Constitutional authority and right this wrong. I\u2019m proud to lead the Small Business RELIEF Act and will keep working every day to bring much-needed relief to our small business owners.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn an entirely predictable outcome, President Trump\u2019s tariffs have forced American small businesses to freeze hiring, hit pause on plans to expand, and cut their already tight budgets to keep their doors open,\u201d said Congressman Pappas. \u201cThey can\u2019t wait for a Supreme Court ruling or the end of this administration to get back on track. They need us to act now. That\u2019s why we\u2019re introducing the Small Business RELIEF Act, which would exempt all goods imported by small businesses from the Trump tariff tax and refund any tariffs they've paid. New Hampshire\u2019s Main Street businesses are the heart of our communities, and we need to act now so that they can keep their doors open.\u201d\n\n\"Small businesses need relief from tariffs because tariffs put small firms at a competitive disadvantage relative to larger companies. Due to the thin margins on which many small businesses already operate, sweeping tariffs will force many small firms to pass higher costs on to customers. Larger businesses, however, are more likely to have flexibility to absorb increased overhead, keeping prices lower and undercutting their smaller competitors. There is no time to lose as far as small businesses are concerned, and lawmakers must act now to save small businesses from damaging tariffs,\" said John Arensmeyer, Founder and CEO, Small Business Majority.\n\n\"Small business owners have been sounding the alarm for months: President Trump\u2019s so-called \u2018Liberation Day\u2019 tariffs are nothing more than an illegal tax on Main Street. They\u2019re driving up costs, squeezing margins, and forcing entrepreneurs to make impossible choices between raising prices, cutting staff, or closing their doors. The Small Business RELIEF Act is a critical step toward righting those wrongs. Exempting small businesses from these reckless tariffs\u2014and refunding the dollars already taken\u2014will deliver immediate, overdue relief. Main Street Alliance strongly supports this legislation and urges members of Congress to stand with the small, independent businesses that form the backbone of our local economies,\u201d said Richard Trent, Main Street Alliance Executive Director.\n\nRead the full bill HERE.\n\nToday\u2019s legislation follows on the heels of Rep. Morrison\u2019s latest effort to get relief for small businesses, when she led her colleagues in calling for Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately take up the bipartisan resolutions that passed the Senate last month to end President Trump\u2019s global trade war and restore Congressional authority over tariffs.\n\nEarlier this year, after President Trump first announced his sweeping global tariffs, Representatives Morrison and Pappas introduced the Small Business Liberation Act, which would exempt small businesses from tariffs. Since this summer, the Representatives have continued to hear from small business owners who are ringing the alarm bell that the Trump Administration's tariffs pose an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to their businesses.\n\nAs a member of the U.S. House Small Business Committee, Rep. Morrison has spent the year advocating for small business owners as they handle the uncertainty and financial stress that the Trump Administration\u2019s tariffs have caused, including:\n\nCalling on the Administration to exempt small businesses from tariffs\n\nPressing Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler to exempt small businesses from tariffs\n\nMeeting with small business owners who are calling out Trump\u2019s harmful tariffs\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://morrison.house.gov/media/press-releases/ahead-small-business-saturday-us-rep-kelly-morrison-introduces-bill-provide"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7861268240958452, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}