Independent Businesses Urge Senate Action In Wake Of Arizona Jobs Report

Independent Businesses Urge Senate Action In Wake Of Arizona Jobs Report

by | May 7, 2025 | Economy, News

By Matthew Holloway |

The latest job report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) shows that 34% of small business owners (seasonally adjusted) reported that despite having open positions in April, they could not find employees to fill them. Chad Heinrich, state director for NFIB in Arizona, offered some suggestions for Arizona lawmakers to address the situation and urged the passage of AZ Senate Bills 1069 and 1215.

“Arizona’s small businesses are the foundation of our economy, and our state has a chance to lead the way in empowering them,” Heinrich said in a statement. “Lawmakers have already done good work keeping taxes and regulations in check. Now, I urge them to pass Senate Bills 1069 and 1215. These two measures will lift a significant recordkeeping burden from Arizona’s smallest businesses and safeguard legal proceedings from foreign entity involvement.”

Senate Bill 1069 sponsored by AZ Senator JD Mesnard (R-LD13) would, if enacted, increase the Business Personal Property Tax exemption to $500,000 per taxpayer, relieving the tax burden on small business owners and “reduce record-keeping and compliance costs enormously,” according to the NFIB.

The bill was passed by the Senate 17-9 with four Senators not voting and passed the House Ways and Means Committee on March 5th.

The second measure, Senate Bill 1215, proposed by AZ Senate President Pro Tempore Vince Leach would require the disclosure of third-parties sponsoring predatory lawsuits against Arizona small business owners and was passed by the House Judiciary Committee on March 26th and is pending consideration by the House Rules Committee. The bill is also supported by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Arizona Manufacturers Council, the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association, and the Arizona Trucking Association.

Courtney Coolidge, executive vice president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry said in a February statement, “Third party litigation funding has grown to an estimated $15 billion industry in the U.S. Essentially what happened is funders pour money into lawsuits in exchange for the settlement. This is a simple transparency bill to ensure transparency in our courts, protect litigants and safeguard against foreign influence. This is not just an Arizona issue; several states have passed this with bipartisan support.”

Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg explained the NFIB report’s findings saying, “Small business owners remained open to hire and grow their workforce in April. While the percent of open positions decreased a bit, Main Street firms are still struggling to find qualified applicants for their plentiful open positions.” Per the NFIB report, the percentage of unfilled job openings spiked in 2021-22 and have returned to the lowest level observed since January 2021.

Per the NFIB report, the percentage of unfilled job openings spiked in 2021-22 and have returned to the lowest level observed since January 2021 with the largest concentration of openings in construction, transportation, and manufacturing.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

Small Business Report Draws Attention To Lack Of Optimism

Small Business Report Draws Attention To Lack Of Optimism

by | Jul 13, 2022 | Economy, News

By Terri Jo Neff |

The number of small business owners across America who expect business conditions to improve over the next six months dropped considerably in June, hitting the lowest level in the 48 years the National Federation of Independent Business has conducted the survey.

That was the dismal news released Tuesday by Chad Heinrich, NFIB’s state director for Arizona.

“With small-business-owner expectations dimming to a record low, it becomes even more important that we have state leaders focused on ways to improve business conditions for the small-business owner,” Heinrich said. “All Arizonans have benefited from state legislative and executive leaders who have adopted pro-small-business policies year-after-year.”

Heinrich’s statement drew attention to the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index for June which showed a drop for the sixth consecutive month. That means the expectations of small business owners for better conditions have worsened every month of 2022.

NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg also addressed the pessimistic news revealed by the Small Business Optimism Index.

“On top of the immediate challenges facing small business owners including inflation and worker shortages, the outlook for economic policy is not encouraging either as policy talks have shifted to tax increases and more regulations,” Dunkelberg said.
 
Among the key findings in Tuesday’s report is that 50 percent of small business owners reported job openings that could not be filled, a historically “very high” rating. Of those hiring or trying to hire, 94 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.

Even one bit of good news in Tuesday’s report wasn’t all that positive. According to NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index, the net percent of owners raising their average selling prices decreased three points. However, the decrease comes after May’s record high reporting of price increases.

Heinrich advised that Arizonans cannot rest on the successes that have kept the state at or near the top of post-pandemic economic gains.

“We must continue to support leaders who understand that most new jobs are created by small business owners,” he said. “Small businesses drive the Arizona economy forward.”

The NFIB Research Center has collected Small Business Economic Trends data with quarterly surveys since the 4th quarter of 1973 and monthly surveys since 1986. Survey respondents are randomly drawn from NFIB’s membership.