LA CROSSE, Wis. — In the political debates about large corporations and small businesses, it is not common to hear about “microbusinesses;” those which employ fewer than five people. These small-scale enterprises make up 88 percent of all U.S. businesses, according to the Assoc. for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO).

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) are members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

They jointly introduced House Resolution 2858, The Rural Microbusi-ness Credit Investment Act, on Sept. 7.

It could provide a 35 percent tax credit – up to $10,000 – to businesses of five or fewer employees (including sole proprietorships) and grossing less than $1 million per year, if passed.

As introduced, the bill would be retroactive for five years so current microbusiness owners could offset previously paid taxes. Moreover, H.R. 2858 is aimed at “distressed” communities of 50,000 or fewer people with high unemployment.

The idea is to help start-up microbusinesses get a footing and existing businesses to expand – the AEO estimates if just one in three microbusinesses could hire an additional employee, the U.S. workforce would be at full employment.

This includes smaller-scale farms. “(Herger and I) realize if we’re going to get this economy back on track, a lot of that is going to come from small business, microbusinesses like family farms,” Kind explained, adding their proposal is in the same vein as the American Jobs Act President Obama proposed in early September.

Urban and other large areas already have incentives and programs to encourage small business, Kind said, but this isn’t so much the case in rural communities.

Particularly in agriculture, he believes this tax credit could encourage small-scale farmers to grow for the big push for local foods, but he also believes it’s important to generally try to help farmers preserve small-size farms.

“We may wake up one morning and find out we’re dependent on just a few growers,” he said.

Federal subsidies and other payments would play into that $1 million gross income consideration, Kind said, but with today’s high commodity prices he feels many small-scale farmers might not qualify for enough of those to price them out of being able to take advantage of H.R. 2858, if passed.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) sees it as an opportunity to keep young people in rural areas and farming. “It’s definitely right up the line with what the National Farmers Union believes in,” said Chandler Goule, vice president of NFU Government Relations.

“We’re running out of producers,” he added, citing the rising average age of the American farmer and the loss of smaller-scale farms to larger “corporate” farms. “(This legislation is) definitely showing the crucial need to bring young people back to agricultural production.”

Another group who might make good beginning farmers are returning military veterans. Citing federal statistics, Goule said roughly 40 percent of veterans come from rural areas and when they are discharged, agriculture might be a good career for some, especially given current competition for jobs.

In fact, the NFU is already working with the Farmer Veteran Coalition, which is dedicated to helping these people find jobs when they come home. Learn more at www.farmvetco.org

If one looks at the makeup of the U.S. House, Goule pointed to shifts in representation from rural to urban districts because of migration out of the countryside. Add to this the disconnect that exists between the average consumer and knowledge of farming practices, and he worries about the viability of keeping enough small farms going.

If anything, he said the NFU would like to see legislation go further and qualify the farmland a beginning farmer purchases for a similar tax credit.

Farmland prices are quite high, as are equipment purchases, Goule pointed out, both of which are daunting for anyone who wants to start their own farm.

According to Kind’s office, the American Farm Bureau Federation and Center for Rural Affairs also support H.R. 2858. The latter stated: “In hard times, microbusiness is important in all of America. During the 2000-03 recession, employment grew in microenterprises 9.17 percent while falling 1.8 percent in larger firms. Microenterprise led America out of its last recession, and can do so again with a little support.”

In his western Wisconsin district, Kind sees microbusinesses at work all the time and described them as “so important” to keeping money circulating in their local economies – yet, they find it difficult to qualify for working capital. This is especially true with today’s tight loan market.

He said he has supported measures to buoy smaller businesses in the Ways and Means Committee while in office, and he and Herger are both working to gather bipartisan support for H.R. 2858. “We think this could be a real boost to family farmers and local economy.”

To learn more about the proposed legislation, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.2858.IH