Businesses across the state of Vermont — including equipment and event rental companies — dodged a tax bullet in May that could have seen their collective cost for expanded unemployment insurance (UI) benefits rise to the tune of an estimated $50 million.
According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Vermont Senate Bill 10 (S.10) would have increased unemployment costs for small business owners through:
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A 20 percent expansion of unemployment benefits, with an estimated cost to small business owners of $35 million.
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The creation of a new benefit for dependent coverage, with an estimated cost to small business owners of $12-$21 million.
To explain the rationale behind the tax increases placed on the table by S.10, NFIB proposed that organized labor in the state attempted to convince legislators that business owners can afford the unemployment insurance benefit expansions because they received a windfall of millions in coronavirus (COVID-19) recovery funds — and that greed and an unwillingness to support workers were behind small business owners’ opposition to the expansions.
“We were saying, ‘The pandemic wasn’t our fault. Why are you raising our taxes on this?’” says Brendon Blood, president, Blood’s Catering & Party Rentals, White River Junction, Vt. “At the same time, in the committees, they were talking about taxing PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] money. So we had two things going on.”
Following S.10’s approval in the Senate, the NFIB and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce launched email “calls to action” across their memberships as the measure headed to a House committee for consideration. The points that these business organizations encouraged their members to stress to their representatives included the amending of S.10 to eliminate the new dependent benefit and the removal of 2020 from future UI rate calculations.
All told, the call to action was intended to put Vermont’s small businesses back on a stable path to economic recovery and oppose what NFIB termed the “cost shocks” included in S.10 — cost increases compounded by the slow recovery from COVID-19 that already are hurting Vermont workers.
Business owners duly responded to the call, and the measure was put to a halt.
Blood says this is an example of how reaching out to your legislators really can make a difference when onerous issues arise for your business.
“It seems like we’ve had a lot of wins in the last two or three years. Vermont tent companies were very active last summer [to secure relief for the industry]. We got on Zoom, FaceTimed with legislators and told our story in committee meetings. Last year, I got a few hundred thousand in grant money just from the state of Vermont, which was a huge help. I didn’t have to pay it back, and it wasn’t taxed. I would urge business owners to please, for the good of yourself and other businesses, take the time to reach out to your legislators. These people and their committees are willing to listen. All you’ve got to do is talk to them in a nice way. Maybe it’s a ‘majority rules’ thing, but when businesses get together and talk, then go to these meetings, those people listen. It can make a difference,” Blood says.