Congress may be back in their home states for August recess, but with inflation still over nine percent in West Virginia and gas prices hovering around $4.00 per gallon across the state, families need relief.
U.S. Senators from the Mountain State are rightly focused on finding ways to reduce these economic burdens facing families, and I applaud Senator Manchin for his continued leadership on this issue. But too many other Washington politicians seemeddistracted by a different set of priorities—ones that could actually increase consumer costs.
Some in Congress want to bring a package of anti-innovation bills to the floor that would further harm our already-strained economy while undercutting small businesses working to recover from a devastating past two years. This rushed, election year legislation will take aim at America’s most innovative technology companies that have been a catalyst for economic development, connectivity, and opportunity in West Virginia. A new study by a leading antitrust expert found “the proposals risk undermining innovation, slowing economic growth, hurting American consumers and having a chilling effect on startup formation and growth.”
As we all saw during the pandemic, U.S. technology plays a central role in securing our nation’s economic prosperity. Every day, tens of millions of entrepreneurs and small business owners rely on the products and tools created by our domestic technology sector to run their businesses efficiently and effectively. And this innovation that drives our small business economy is no longer concentrated in one specific area. Instead, it is blossoming in every corner of the country, including here in West Virginia.
Technological developments born in the United States have spurred our domestic economy, helped export American values around the world, and served as a vital tool to help advance our national and cyber security capabilities. But by hamstringing U.S. tech innovation, Congress will be undercutting the digital tools that have become a lifeline—and impact that will be particularly felt byrural small businesses that rely on tech and e-commerce platforms to compete.
In fact, anti-innovation bills could informally amount to a ‘regulatory tax’ on small and medium-sized retail businesses (SMB) “of 5.2% of their sales, or an average of $1,712 per SMB Seller per month,” according to a recent study. And since these rules would only apply to American companies, Congress would essentially be handing an edge to our foreign competitors, including Chinese companies, giving them strategic advantage over U.S. businesses.
At a time when West Virginians are already feeling the effects of soaring costs, the bills would have a litany of unintended consequences, including costing our economy $319 billion. This economic toll would also impact the retirement benefits of West Virginia’s 144,079 public sector workers. Teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers would shoulder the heaviest costs – an average loss of $2,750 per pension holder, or $400 million total in the long-term.
Instead of attacking a sector that contributes so much to our economy and financial prosperity, Americans want their elected officials to stay focused on top-of-mind issues like inflation, national security, gas prices, and health care. A new poll by Ipsos, in partnership with the American Edge Project, shows that midterm voters want Washington to tackle high priority issues such as inflation and the cost of living, national security, jobs, and healthcare, not anti-tech legislation which ranked as a low priority issue. In fact, 89 percent of voter believe anti-innovation legislation will have unintended consequences on our economy and national security.
Our domestic technology companies are the world’s biggest innovators and remain a leader on the global stage, advancing new breakthroughs in emerging technologies. Before rushing to pass this misguided legislation, our leaders must seriously consider the unintended consequences of these bills and the impact it will have on our ability to remain a global leader in technological innovation. Now more than ever, it’s vital for our elected leaders to strengthen our domestic technology industry and help lay the groundwork for decades of continued economic growth and prosperity.
Doug Kelly is CEO of the American Edge Project (AEP), a coalition of nearly two dozen organizations dedicated to advancing and protecting American innovation and technology.