On the recordJanuary 22, 2007
I come from a small business background. But not from small business as defined by the Federal government. The Federal definition is a business with less than 500 employees. Any business that we had in our State that was that large--and I am not sure we have any headquartered in our State--would be considered big business. I am talking about the mom-and-pop shops where the person who does the accounting also sweeps the sidewalks and cleans the toilets and waits on customers--definitely not in that order. This is a significant segment of small business across this country. They generate 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs annually over the last decade. Raising the minimum wage will affect them more substantially than businesses with as many as 500 or more employees. In the context of a minimum wage increase, I have always asked that actions be taken to offset the impact of an increase for small businesses.
Source
govinfo.gov
