Lance Highlights Small Business During Robert Treat Press Conference

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon County) visited a deli and stores in Westfield Thursday to promote his agenda for small business legislation.

Appearing alongside the owners of Robert Treat Deli and a downtown economic development official, Lance stressed his belief that small business is the key to job creation and called for decreased federal regulations, including in the area of health care. Lance, who represents much of western Union County, has stressed economic and small business issues in his campaign during the August congressional recess. 

"Little has been done in Washington for small business," Lance said, placing the blame at the feet of Congressional Democrats. "The politics of this Congress are hurting small business."

Lance outlined a small business proposal drafted by him and other House Republicans that include extending the Bush tax cuts that are due to expire in December, reducing regulations from the health care reform law, increasing the amount of small business start up tax reductions, incentivizing small business lending, reducing small business regulations and passing a constitutional amendment to limit federal spending.

Lance, who operates a district office in Westfield, said he held the press conference at Robert Treat because he sees the deli, which has 11 employees, as an example of the small businesses he is working to assist. 

"This business is what is at the heart of America," he said. The visit comes three weeks after President Barack Obama visited a sub shop in Edison.

With regard to small business lending, Lance emphasized  rolling-back regulations on small businesses and banks participating in Small Business Administration loan programs. Lance said that he has received complaints from small business owners, who said they have had trouble obtaining loans due to regulations from the federal government. Lance declined to discuss the specific regulations he is looking to change in terms of small business lending. 

Lance, who has stressed his fiscal conservatism throughout his bid for a second term, said that he is looking forward to working with Obama on small business issues and called on the president to review Republican proposals on the issue. He said he does not agree with parts of the president's recently released small business proposal, which includes increasing SBA loan guarantees to 90-percent, increasing SBA loan size and changing bank guidelines on SBA loans. The proposal extends tax breaks and expands a capital gains exclusion for some small businesses. But Lance said he would like Obama to focus even more on the tax aspects of small business policy.

Lance said he expects Congress to discuss either a potential tax increase or not extend the Bush tax cuts during an expected lame duck congressional session after the November election.

"I am opposed to raising taxes on anyone," Lance said.

Jack Kasich, the co-owner of Robert Treat, appeared alongside Lance to endorse the congressman's small business plan and expand on some of the issues from the perspective of a small business owner. Kasich said the new health care law has created an amount of uncertainty for him in knowing what he can offer to employees. In addition he said rising health care costs have caused him to cut health care for employees and he and his brother/co-owner do not receive health insurance through a business plan.

Kasich said that while Lance's Democratic opponent, Ed Potosnak, who has focused on small business issues in recent weeks as well, has said that small businesses have been sitting on large amounts of money, he does not know any small businesses doing this. Kasich said the current recession has been the worst he has been through including seeing a decrease in revenue.

Kasich also discussed the overall economic outlook for the downtown, saying he has seen a rise in vacant storefronts in the downtown.

"This is the best town in the state and we have rentals here," Kasich said.

Statistics from the Downtown Westfield Corporation show that Westfield's downtown vacancy rate is lower than the state average. During remarks at the Lance press conference, DWC Executive Director Sherry Cronin said that the downtown has seen eight business expansions during the past year, including the moves of the Farmhouse Store and Sole to larger, more visible locations along East Broad Street.

In a follow-up to comments made during a Wednesday town hall meeting in Summit about outsourcing, Lance said he remains in favor of extending tax incentives to companies that outsource jobs, due to the economic impact in the United States. Lance recently voted against a teacher funding bill that included a provision to end these tax incentives to help offset the cost of the $26.1 billion bill.

Lance, who stressed he wanted to focus on small business and not outsourcing issues, said he believes the ability to outsource has had companies hiring more in the U.S., along with boosting the manufacturing industry. He said he has heard from congressional colleagues in the Midwest who have indicated that they have seen benefits in the farm equipment industry due to these tax policies.

Lance reiterated his opposition to the adoption of a law creating a value added tax in the United States. The VAT, popular in Europe, is a tax on the transfer of goods and services and is often paid by companies via charges to consumers. President Obama indicated in the spring that he'd consider bringing the VAT to the United States to offset the federal deficit.

"I am vigorously opposed to a VAT," Lance said. "I do not want to go down that route. Our European cousins have a VAT and it's so easy to raise. It's a hidden tax and it would be devastating to business" 

Following the press conference at Robert Treat, Cronin led Lance on a walking tour of the downtown and a visit to additional small businesses. During the tour, Cronin outlined the history of the Westfield downtown and some of the programs the DWC stages as part of the economic development mission of the agency.

Lance and Cronin visited three East Broad Street businesses including Mademoiselle, Brummers and Bovellas. Lance spent the visits discussing small business policy and listening to business owners discuss the current economic state. Lance expressed interest in hearing about the impact of the current economic downturn on businesses.

"Stop spending money," the owner of Brummers said. "If I don't have the rent my landlord is pissed. Get rid of the lawyers in Congress and put in the business owners who know how to handle money."

Lance took the walking tour after he praised downtown Westfield's small businesses as being what makes the downtown 'vibrant.' In response to a question about the vibrancy of the downtown based on the interaction between chain stores and small stores, Lance said the two can complement each other and referred the matter to Cronin.

Cronin said the town currently has 51-percent of downtown square footage dedicated to chain stores while the remainder is leased by small businesses. She also said many of the chain stores in the downtown have acted like small businesses in terms of customer service. Lance said he has been seeing Robert Treat employ a strong customer service model for a number of years.

"This is what makes small business special and this is what will create jobs in America," he said. 

Lance said that while he is hoping for a Republican controlled Congress, he is remaining cautiously optimistic in terms of policy issues a Republican Congress could pursue next year. He said economic issues will likely dominate the plate of a Republican Congress.

"We will focus almost exclusively on getting the economy moving again," Lance of a potential Republican majority in the House.

Editor's Note: Patch contributor Josh Solomon contributed to this report.