Voinovich to support small-business bill

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) will support the small-business package his chamber is expected to vote on shortly after returning from the August recess, according to The Washington Post. 

The senator’s support gives Democrats the 60 votes they need to move the bill forward and a key victory before the elections this November. 

To secure the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) must allow an amendment that stops companies from filing a 1099 form to the IRS for every purchase above $600, the paper reports.

The small-business package includes $12 billion in tax relief and creates a $30 billion lending pool for smaller companies.

Nearly every Republican has opposed the bill because of concerns the lending pool would create a TARP-like fund that would make the government responsible for business loans that went bad. 

Voinovich did not agree with his colleagues. 

“We don’t have time anymore to play games,” the Post reports him saying. “I happen to believe these small-business people can’t get money to save their souls.”

Voinovich reached out to President Obama earlier in the week, asking him to fund his $50 billion infrastructure project with an increase in the gas tax. The senator stated the tax had not been increased in more than 15 years and was a more transparent revenue source than rescinding tax breaks used by the oil-and-gas industry.