Democrats Target Small Business Amid COVID Lockdown

(Chaz Anon) Even before COVID-19 put the brakes on an explosive U.S. economy, small business owners had a target on their back with many new rules and regulations to deal with entering 2020. Since the lockdown, small business owners have been fighting for their lives, with their main adversaries being Democratic leaders.

A new study says that over one hundred thousand small businesses have already closed for good because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That would mean approximately 2 percent of all small businesses have closed for good. Hundreds of thousands of more closures could be on the way.

It’s not just the small business owners who are suffering: That is because 30 million small businesses employ nearly 60 million workers — half of the private-sector workforce.

The Democratic Party is screwing small businesses over while also promoting big-government anti-business policies, and the worst part is that they are destroying everything around them in the long run.

In the short term, many employees have found it more lucrative to be unemployed than to work.

Traditionally, the unemployment benefit is only supposed to replace about 40 percent of jobless workers’ earnings (on average).

Last month, when congress lumped an additional $600 giveaway on top of the state-level unemployment benefits, they created millions of laid-off American monsters, finding happiness in serving the state, working less and making more money, but sacrificing their freedom for the temporary security.

This is the case in nearly 40 U.S. states, which is most of the country. In states like Maine and New Mexico, combined state and federal unemployment benefits cover nearly 130 percent of lost wages. In Mississippi, the median unemployed worker is eligible for 166 percent of their former salary.

As millions of small businesses reopen, small business owners need reliable workers but may find that many are content with their serfdom, remaining unemployed.

The incentives are currently set up to keep them from working.

Their are two things Democratic leaders know for sure, it’s that leftist voters want free stuff from the government and small business owners do not vote Democrat.

So Democratic governors are preventing small businesses from reopening at all. In Illinois, small business owners who violate the state’s stay-at-home order can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. Those who are charged face a $2,500 fine and even one year of imprisonment for attempting to reopen. California, New York, Oregon and Michigan are the leaders of the never-ending authoritarian lockdowns, each governed by leftist Democrats, all of which are leaving a trail of dead businesses in their wake.

But this destruction of small business is happening on many fronts. So many in fact, that it makes you think it might be deliberate.

MINIMUM WAGES INCREASE

The minimum wage is higher in 13 states as of Jan. 1, including New York, where the minimum rose Dec. 31.

The increases in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York are steps toward an eventual $15 minimum approved by state legislatures.

Increases are planned later in the year in states including Connecticut, New York, Oregon and Washington, D.C., and some counties and cities are raising their minimums as well.

While many businesses pay hourly workers above the minimum, when there’s an increase in the wage, many owners give all their staffers a raise to stay competitive amid a tight labor market.

NEW OVERTIME RULES

The Labor Department’s long-awaited revamp of its overtime rules are now in effect, giving an estimated 1.3 million workers a raise.

Workers earning under $684 per week or $35,568 must now be paid overtime, up from the previous threshold of $455 per week or $23,660 annually.

Retailers, restaurants and manufacturers are most likely to be affected, with shift supervisors and assistant managers among the positions that must now be paid overtime after 40 hours a week.

While all employers are subject to the rules, the higher threshold is likely to have the greatest impact on small companies that lack the revenue cushion that larger businesses have against higher costs.

Employers are expected to limit the hours of some workers so they don’t incur overtime, or raise some staffers’ pay to a level above the threshold, making them exempt from the new rules.

More information about the overtime rules can be found on the Labor Department’s website, www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/2019/index.

NEW W-4 FORMS

The IRS has issued new W-4 forms for 2020, changing the way tax is withheld from employees’ pay.

The new forms reflect changes required by the tax law that went into effect in late 2017; they do away with the allowances long used to calculate how much money should be withheld from paychecks.

Instead, the new forms use information that can be found on employees’ tax returns.

Current employees don’t need to fill out new W-4 forms, but new staffers or employees who want to change their withholding do need to complete them.

The IRS has created a calculator to help small businesses compute withholding for the new forms if they don’t use automated payroll software or providers.

It can be found on the IRS website, www.irs.gov. Search for “new Form W-4.”

PLASTIC BAG BANS

A growing number of states, counties and cities have passed legislation prohibiting or restricting retailers and other businesses from giving customers single-use plastic bags to carry purchases. Oregon’s ban went into effect Jan. 1, and Maine, New York state and Vermont have similar prohibitions going into effect later in the year.

There are variations among the laws and some exceptions — in New York, for example, pharmacies are exempt if the purchase is for a prescription drug, and restaurants can give diners bags for takeout food.

Some of the laws also require a 5 cent charge if a customer wants a paper bag.

While the laws have been passed out of environmental concerns, small retailers might see a benefit from not having to buy and supply plastic bags.

And those that sell reusable shopping tote bags could get a small revenue uptick.

CALIFORNIA CHANGE

A new California law gives consumers more control over the personal information companies collect and share with other businesses.

While the law aims to exempt very small companies, those that do business with California residents, including out-of-state firms, can find themselves required to comply.

Under the law, companies must be able to tell consumers what information they have and what they do with it.

Consumers must have the option to have their information deleted from companies’ computer systems.

Businesses that handle information collected by others — for example, payment processors — can also find themselves subject to the law.

Companies are subject to the law if they have worldwide revenue above $25 million, collect or receive the personal information of 50,000 or more California consumers, households or electronic devices; or those who get at least half their revenue from selling personal information.

Small businesses can reach the 50,000 threshold for collecting or receiving information — an individual who has a phone, tablet, PC at home and one at work counts as four users, not one.

A separate law puts strict limits on who can work as an independent contractor or freelancer.

The law is aimed at ensuring that workers in the gig economy like Uber and Lyft drivers get the protections that labor laws give employees.

It will force business owners to decide whether to hire these workers as employees, even for temporary assignments, or look for help in other states.

The law also affects out-of-state companies if they have been using independent contractors or freelancers in California.

Changes in California laws are also noteworthy because the state can be a trailblazer when it comes to employee, consumer and environmental issues.

The nation’s first laws requiring paid sick leave for workers and banning plastic bags were enacted in California.