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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	May 4, 2018 11:40 AM
From:	Senator Vincent J. Hughes and Sen. John P. Blake
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Small Business Fee Exemption

In the near future, we plan on introducing the “Small Business Fee Exemption Act” to reduce or eliminate business startup fees for small businesses. The week of April 29 – May 5 is “Small Business Week” in Pennsylvania. Small businesses are the economic backbones of our communities. According to Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers, there are nearly one million small businesses in Pennsylvania. Small businesses across the Commonwealth account for nearly 50% of the private sector workforce. Our proposal expands on action taken by the General Assembly in Act 35 of 2016. Act 35 provided a 100% exemption for veteran-owned and reservist-owned small businesses from certain state and local business startup fees. Our bill would expand the exemption to include women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, minority-owned, and disadvantaged businesses. “Microenterprises,” defined as a business with five employees or less would also qualify for a 100% exemption. In addition, all other small businesses would receive a partial exemption equal to 50% of the fee. The Department of State will be responsible for reporting to the Senate and House of Representatives the number of small businesses which have benefited from the elimination or reduction of business fees. Eliminating or reducing startup fees is a simple tool we can use to spur the creation of more small businesses in the commonwealth and create a new class of entrepreneurs. Please join us in sponsoring this legislation.

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