Business owners say economic growth top issue in midterms

Business owners said that economic growth was the most important issues going into the Nov. 6 midterm elections, according to a new survey by Paychex, a human resources provider.

Sixty-three percent of business owners cited economic growth as their top issue in the survey, followed by 62 percent who said taxes were the most important. Third on the list was health care, which 48 percent of respondents said was a top priority.

{mosads}The results should be welcome news to Republicans, who have hoped that the healthy economy and their signature tax law would give them a boost in the midterms. Recent surveys show that approval of the tax law remains underwater among the general population. Democrats, meanwhile, have made health care a central part of their message.

“Though every business is unique, there are universal issues that impact all businesses’ abilities to grow and thrive. Economic growth, taxes, and healthcare are among these,” said Paychex CEO Martin Mucci.

“Each of these issues has seen legislative activity since the 2016 election, and many business owners will be reflecting on the impact those changes are having on their business to help inform how they’ll vote in November,” he added, referring to the GOP tax plan and failed attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.

The survey found the female business owners were more likely to prioritize health care as their No. 3 issue than males, who pointed to government regulation. Smaller businesses were also far less likely to mention wage legislation or paid sick/family leave as a top issue than larger ones.

The online survey covered 600 randomly selected principals of U.S. companies with 1–500 employees, and was conducted from Sept. 12 to 24. It had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.