Small business owners have plenty to worry about these days. According to John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, his organization's surveys show optimism is slipping as owners grapple with soaring health insurance premiums, rising energy costs, and the higher price of imported goods. And yet, the wave of entrepreneurship that began during the pandemic hasn't faded. In fact, it's still growing. So what's going on? Why are so many people choosing this moment to start businesses? What do they think they're seeing?
Small Business News
07/17/2026 |
Beef Magazine
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) and Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), co-chairs of the Monopoly Busters Caucus, are introducing the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act, legislation to break up dominant meatpacking monopolies, rein in foreign-controlled corporate giants and end unfair pricing practices that raise costs for American families and box out local farmers and ranchers…. It is endorsed by Small Business Majority.
07/16/2026 |
Los Angeles Times
This year, premiums for staff at the Booksmith, an independent bookstore on Haight Street in San Francisco, leaped by 17%, said Christin Evans, the store’s owner. Next year could bring even more pain. The monthly premium for four employees is $3,250. To try to cope, Evans said, she has reduced staff hours by closing the store earlier. “We have to absorb it,” she said. “We’re not paying the wages we want to pay or delivering the customer service we’d like to deliver.”
07/16/2026 |
New Democrat Coalition
Yesterday, New Dem Vice Chair for Outreach Salud Carbajal (CA-24) hosted a roundtable discussion on how affordability issues such as healthcare costs, rising gas and utility prices, damaged supply chains, and the Trump Administration's reckless tariffs have hurt small businesses. Vice Chair Carbajal was joined by several New Dem Members for the discussion, including Trade and Tariffs Task Force Chair Don Beyer (VA-08) and Rep. Jim Costa (CA-21). Roundtable guests included Small Business Majority network members Megan Wyatt, Reynita Medrano, Sayuri Tsuchitani, Jackie Huebbe, Dr.
07/16/2026 |
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
It is endorsed by Small Business Majority.
07/15/2026 |
New York City Patch
Job creators and our employees both need relief from skyrocketing healthcare costs. I urge New York policymakers to support the Fair Pricing Act and take an important step toward creating a more affordable and equitable healthcare system for the small business community.
07/15/2026 |
New York City Patch
This is not a sustainable path for employers or employees, and it underscores the need to address the underlying drivers of healthcare cost inflation. That’s why I support the Fair Pricing Act to help lower rapidly rising hospital prices. It would create site-neutral policies so that hospitals couldn’t charge more for certain procedures than what a doctor’s office would. I urge New York policymakers to support this legislation to help create a more equitable and affordable healthcare system for small business owners and our employees
07/15/2026 |
Politico
More than 20 small business owners were in Washington yesterday and today for Small Business Majority’s fly-in. They met with the offices of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and more. The business owners urged lawmakers to pass the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act and the Break Up Big Medicine Act, which is aimed at lowering prices by countering health care industry consolidation.
07/08/2026 |
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar
The DIGNITY Act continues to drive the national conversation on immigration reform, generating sustained coverage from national, state, and local media outlets across the country…It was cited in Small Business Majority’s policy agenda.
07/07/2026 |
STAT News
It’s the type of pressure Rachel Bernier-Green experienced firsthand. In 2025, for the first time ever, she was able to offer health insurance to herself and six employees at her small financial consulting firm in Chicago. It didn’t last long.Her business, Thryvo Financial Advisory, lost a significant client last year, which drained revenue. Then, as the year went on, her other clients relayed they were staring down the barrel of double-digit-percent increases to their own health plans — a heads-up that Thryvo was next.