Abercrombie Resigns, Linder to Retire

March 2, 2010

Two champions of key NSBA priorities, credit-card reform and the fair tax, are leaving the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) resigned this week to focus on his gubernatorial campaign; and Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) recently announced he will not seek reelection and will retire at the end of his term in Congress.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)
After serving more than ten terms in the House, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) resigned this week to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. As a staunch advocate for America's small businesses, his presence in the House will be missed.

After spending more than a decade in the Hawaii Legislature and State Senate, Abercrombie was first elected to Congress a in a special election in 1986, but served only a few months. He was elected again in 1990 and subsequently served more than ten terms. He served on the Committees on Natural Resources and Armed Services, where he was the chair of the Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces.

While not a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Abercrombie also was a vocal small-business advocate. In the current Congressional session alone, he introduced two important, NSBA-supported small-business bills: the Small Business Credit Card Act of 2009 (H.R. 3457) and the Small Business Job Creation and Access to Capital Act (H.R. 4302).

The Small Business Credit Card Act of 2009 would extend the consumer protections against unfair and deceptive acts by credit-card issuers contained in last year's Credit CARD Act to the credit cards used by small-business owners. This is a top priority for the small-business owners of NSBA.

The Small Business Job Creation and Access to Capital Act would increase the maximum loan sizes for the 7(a) and 504 loans of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). It also contains a commensurate increase to the statutory maximum guaranteed portion of SBA 7(a) loans.

In the wake of Abercrombie's resignation, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), his co-sponsor on both bills, will take the Congressional lead in pushing for their passage

Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.)
After serving 18 years in the House, Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) recently announced he will not seek reelection and will retire at the end of his term in Congress.

Linder, a former dentist and small businessman, is a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means. He has used his position on this tax-writing committee to advocate and sponsor legislation for a Fair Tax, which would eliminate the federal income tax and abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Under Linder's proposal, federal income taxes would be replaced with a 23 percent consumption tax on the retail sale of all new goods and services. As one of the foremost proponents of the Fair Tax, he co-authored a book on the tax with talk radio host Neal Boortz. 

NSBA continues to advocate that the Fair Tax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity inherent in the current US tax system. No one has been a more tireless champion of this common sense tax reform than Linder; and he will be sorely missed by the Fair Tax community.

NSBA thanks Abercrombie and Linder for their tireless efforts on behalf of America's small-business community.