{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.billnelson.senate.gov/newsroom/news/bill-nelson-gop-tax-plan-would-burden-florida-small-biz", "Bill Nelson: GOP tax plan would burden Florida small biz", "2017-11-21", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Bill Nelson", "N000032", "www.billnelson.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senator Bill Nelson brought his campaign against the GOP tax cut plans Tuesday to Orlando, where some local business people also sounded off in opposition to much of the plan.\n\u00a0\nNelson has toured several Florida cities to meet with business people about tax reform. His message is focused on the impact of the proposed tax packages on Florida, where the economy has a high percentage of small businesses.\n\u00a0\nThe House of Representatives plan offers a permanent tax cut to large multinationals, down to 20 percent. But small businesses generally are cut to 25 percent. That would be much lower than current tax rates, which range as high as 39 percent. However, for many small businesses, the lowered rate would only apply to 30 percent of their income. After that, the income would be taxed at their individual tax rate.\n\u00a0\n\u201cPeople don\u2019t realize \u2026 when they\u2019re cutting the turkey or reaching for the cranberry sauce Thursday \u2026 the U.S. Senate is about to sock them in their wallet,\u201d Nelson said.\n\u00a0\nDawn Kallio, who runs a local marketing and promotions firm with her wife, told Nelson she has to compete with large corporations.\n\u00a0\n\u201cIf the playing field benefits big corporations like this, I will go out of business,\u201d said Kallio, co-owner of Bowled Over Promotions.\n\u00a0\nMichael Minton, a Fort Pierce tax attorney with Dean Mead, said he was at the roundtable partly as a representative of Orlando Economic Partnership (which includes the Orlando Regional Chamber) and for Florida TaxWatch. Neither of those groups has taken an official stand regarding the specific tax package bills in Congress. Minton said the OEP hasn\u2019t had a meeting since the bills were introduced.\n\u00a0\nAnother tax attorney from Dean Mead, Stephen Looney, said he opposes the GOP tax plans because they shift the tax burden to small businesses, and many of the provisions that cut taxes for small business and individuals would expire, whereas the corporate tax cuts are permanent.\n\u00a0\nNelson also believes the tax cuts won\u2019t help the national debt, which is currently $20 trillion. \u201cWhere are the deficit hawks?\u201d he said. Nelson said the tax reform bill passed in the House and a similar bill pending a vote in the Senate were rushed to a vote during the holiday season, to avoid public scrutiny.\n\u00a0\nLinda McMahon, the Small Business Administration chief appointed by Trump, has praised the House for passing its tax cut bill, and called for \u201creal tax reform\u201d after the Senate bill is debated.\n\u00a0\n\u201cReal tax-reform means tax cuts for middle-class families; simplifying the code; and cutting taxes for businesses of all sizes so they can grow, create new jobs, raise wages for workers, and increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace \u2026 just as the President promised during the campaign,\u201d McMahon said in her statement.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.billnelson.senate.gov/newsroom/news/bill-nelson-gop-tax-plan-would-burden-florida-small-biz"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7155609093606472, "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"}