House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

Posted:	November 29, 2023 12:13 PM
From:	Representative Marla Brown and Rep. Arvind Venkat
To:	All House members
Subject:	Small Business Exemption Fee

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. Not only are the majority of jobs in the U.S. created by small businesses, but they also are a major source of innovation, economic growth, and national prosperity. In addition, over 8 out of 10 small businesses have no employees, making them true ‘microenterprises’ that are single-handedly growing our economy. In 2016, the General Assembly provided for an exemption for veteran-owned and reservist-owned small businesses from certain state and local business start up fees via Act 35. We are proposing legislation that would expand the current 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 be exempt. In addition, all other small businesses would receive a partial exemption. The legislation also requires the Department of State to report the number of small businesses who have benefited from the exemption. Eliminating and reducing these fees will spur the growth of our small businesses and create opportunities for new entrepreneurs from groups often under-represented in the Commonwealth. Please join us in co-sponsoring legislation that will reduce and/or eliminate business start-up fees for small businesses to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.
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Introduced as HB1905