WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush told a group of women entrepreneurs Tuesday he wanted to put policies in place that would help the nation's small-business owners, many of who are women, thrive, but stopped short of saying the improving economy has completely pulled out of recession.
"It's really important for people to understand, as we're fighting a recession, if small businesses create two-thirds of the new jobs, it makes sense that any economic recovery strategy focus on small businesses," Bush said.
He made his comments during the "Women's Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Summit" at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington. The U.S. Department of Labor, Public Forum Institute and the Small Business Administration hosted the event.
The event covered issues including trade, health insurance, taxes, raising capital, developing a healthy work-life balance and retirement planning.
Bush said though there were encouraging economic signs, the country had not yet completely recovered.
"We're seeing some encouraging signs of recovery, but I want to tell you something. I'm not a numbers-cruncher," Bush said. "I'm not one of these bean counters. But I don't believe the economy is strong enough to say that we've recovered."
It was the second day Bush pushed his message on economic recovery. He praised small business as generators of jobs for American workers and pointed to his 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax relief package as a reason the nation's economic outlook was improving.
"It's really important for people to understand, as we're fighting a recession, if small businesses create two-thirds of the new jobs, it makes sense that any economic recovery strategy focus on small businesses," Bush said.
Analysts have pointed to a fall in the U.S. jobless rate for the second consecutive month to 5.5 percent in February as an indicator that the recession is slowing. Last month, total employment rose by 851,000 to 134.3 million. At the same time the National Bureau of Economic Research hinted that the downturn may be over, but, like Bush, stopped short of saying the recession was at an end.
Bush said women-owned businesses were growing at twice the rate of other U.S. firms, and were employing some 7 million people. He detailed a number of proposals aimed at helping small businesses thrive.
He said he wanted to increase the size of annual tax deductions for small businesses with gross revenues under $10 million in an effort to increase cash flow. He proposed simplifying the tax code and accounting procedures for small-business owners. And he said he wanted to alleviate the burden of government regulations.
"The SBA has calculated that the hidden costs of regulations to businesses with fewer than 20 workers. It comes down to $7,000 per worker," he said. "That's a lot of money, particularly if you're trying to figure out ways to expand your employment base. And this is a drag on our economy."
Bush said businesses needed help with high healthcare costs and highlighted a bill that calls for "associated health plans" that allows small businesses to pool their resources for lower premiums. He said he realized it was difficult for owners to retain workers if their healthcare costs were too high. He called attention to a woman who told officials she had 12 employees and had her health insurance canceled three times in 2001. The companies had told her they would no longer write small group plans.
"If we could get into a larger pool where we could get access to lower premiums, then I could insure more people and hire some more people. I think that's a universal complaint all across America. And that's why I strongly support association health plans," Bush said.
Businesses would be able pool together and spread their risk across a larger employee base, he said.
Bush also urged Congress to permanently eliminate the estate tax. Earlier this month, the president signed an economic stimulus bill that would give businesses various tax breaks. And this week, he took his message on domestic economic recovery on the road.
On Monday, he delivered a similar speech before business owners and workers at a Missouri manufacturing plant. Later this week, he heads to Mexico, Peru and El Salvador where he is expected to promote U.S. trade, in an effort to bolster the U.S economy.
