Big Beautiful Bill leaves small businesses holding the bag

Recently, politicians, including U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, and a few handpicked business owners in Cedar Rapids held a roundtable to celebrate President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” as a win for small business. It should be noted that the participants in these type of press events are chosen by the organizers ensuring that only the desired opinions are provided to the attending press.

I wish I could share their optimism. But as someone who runs a small business here in Cedar Rapids, I see it for what it really is: a bad deal dressed up in campaign-season talking points.

As a small-business owner I have a differing opinion. I must admit that I will benefit from the continuation of the 20% cut off the top of profits from the 2017 tax cut and could possibly benefit from quicker write-offs of new equipment purchases. The enthusiasm for ending taxes on overtime pay is a bit concerning though.

Here’s the truth they didn’t mention in front of the cameras: this bill locks in tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the biggest corporations and the wealthiest “small” business owners, while delivering crumbs — and in some cases, outright harm — to the rest of us.

What the press reports failed to convey is that the loss of revenue from the benefits received by the small business owners quoted must either come from other funding or be added to the budget deficit.

Here are the questions that need to be answered before any judgment is passed on the Big Beautiful Bill.

Is it more important to society as a whole to provide tax cuts to the top 10% whose wealth is already at an all-time high, or should the priority be to insure that our children receive a quality education, adequate nutrition and health care, that we have clean air and water, that those who work hard every day can afford a roof over their head and a nutritious meal?

When does the budget deficit become unmanageable and sink this great experiment? What kind of a country do we want to be; do we care more about increasing the profits of the already successful or providing a bootstrap to the American dream to our citizens?

So, while the “One Big Beautiful Bill” might look good from a podium in Cedar Rapids, out here in the real Iowa economy it’s a different story. We don’t need more photo ops. We need policy that strengthens Main Street, not Wall Street. We need health care that’s affordable, tax policy that rewards real small businesses, and trade policy that stops using us as collateral damage.

Until then, you can keep the ribbon-cuttings. We’ll be over here doing the hard work of keeping Iowa’s economy alive — in spite of bills like this one.

Shawn Gallagher is president at Adcraft Printing Company, Inc. and a Main Street Alliance member.