Congresswoman Tenney Announces Launch of First-Ever Family Business Caucus

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22), member of the House Small Business Committee, today announced the launch of the bipartisan Congressional Family Business Caucus with co-leads Representatives Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Tom O’Halleran (AZ-02), and Brad Schneider (IL-10).

The caucus is the first of its kind in Congress and will be laser-focused on advocating for family-owned businesses across the United States.

“Family businesses and farms are the lifeblood of our upstate New York economy. As a longtime small business owner of my family’s printing and manufacturing company, I am honored to launch and co-chair the first-ever Congressional Family Business Caucus,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “Small businesses and family farms drive our economy – they invest in our local communities and provide good-paying jobs and opportunities for New York families. This caucus will ensure that family businesses have a voice in Congress and a seat at the table. I am honored to co-lead this vitally important caucus that will be focused on driving the conversation in Washington and delivering real policy results.”

“With this new congressional caucus, family businesses now have the focused support of our leaders in Congress,” said Pat Soldano, President, Family Enterprise USA, a supporter of the new caucus and an advocate for multi-generational family-owned businesses. “There are 32.4 million family businesses in the U.S, representing $7.7 trillion in annual GDP. We’ve been working for the growth of America’s family businesses for decades, but today our voice has greater power with the formation of this bipartisan congressional caucus,” she said. “We look forward to working with the caucus to help bring the importance of family businesses front and center to the many issues facing this country.”

The Congressional Family Business Caucus will convene regularly and connect members of Congress with family businesses from across the country. The Caucus is open to all members of Congress with an interest in learning more about and supporting family-owned businesses.

Congresswoman Tenney has been a lifelong advocate of small business owners. In the 115th Congress, she voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced taxes on small businesses and stopped advantaging large corporations over family businesses. She is also a cosponsor of the Death Tax Repeal Act, which permanently repeals the death tax that impacts countless family businesses and farms upon the death of the business owner.