FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of more than 20 American business advocacy groups wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY., calling for expedited pro-American, pro-growth business policies as the government enters a full week of being shut down.
The American Growth & Innovation Forum (AGIF) brought U.S.-based business advocates from across the country together to demand answers from congressional leaders as legislators in Washington work to reopen the government.
“It is imperative that this government shutdown is resolved quickly so that Congress can focus on lowering prices for consumers and passing legislation that helps small businesses across the country,” a spokesperson from AGIF told Fox News Digital. “We urge congressional leaders to work across the aisle to prioritize American businesses over international interests.”
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An automatic email response to Fox News Digital last week from a furloughed employee at the Small Business Association (SBA) read that “Senate Democrats voted to block a clean federal funding bill (H.R. 5371), leading to a government shutdown that is preventing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from serving America’s 36 million small businesses.”
The email goes on to say that the shutdown also prevents an “estimated 320 small businesses from accessing $170 million in SBA-guaranteed funding.”
Though Democratic Senators John Fetterman, D-Pa., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Angus King, I-Maine broke ranks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in last week’s vote to fund the government through Nov. 21, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also opposed the bill.
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The legislation to extend funding for the government requires 60 votes to pass the upper chamber. The GOP currently holds 53 seats in the Senate.
“We are concerned that recent proposals and legislative challenges risk undermining these outcomes,” the letter from business advocacy groups read. “Policies that unfairly penalize scale or impose fragmented pricing schemes could weaken the very capacity that enables consumers to access goods and services at low costs, continued investment in innovation, and global leadership in all sectors.”
House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams also addressed how the shutdown would impact their committee in a statement last week following the shutdown.
“The House Committee on Small Business had planned a full October agenda to strengthen Main Street, yet with government funding at a standstill, America’s 36 million small businesses will pay the price,” Chairman Williams explained.
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“The House-passed continuing resolution included vital measures to protect small businesses’ access to capital and ensure continuity for programs that entrepreneurs depend on,” Rogers added.
House Small Business Committee member Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., spoke with Fox News Digital at a press conference on Tuesday and emphasized how the SBA is crippled by the government shutdown, putting small businesses in danger.
“The [SBA] is running into furloughs and paralysis right now, their loan program is essentially suspended,” Patronis told Fox. “We need a way to sit down across the table from other stakeholders that have concerns that need to have a deeper dive into some of the policy issues or need to get revisited by Congress at a later date.”
Wednesday marks one full week of the government shutdown as negotiations continue in both the House and Senate.
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