Statement for the Record of Stephanie Camarillo — Tackling Tax Complexity: The Small Business Perspective (June 7, 2023)

Summary

A statement for the record by Stephanie Camarillo, owner of Molly Maid of Boise and the Treasure Valley, submitted to the United States Senate Committees on Finance and Small Business and Entrepreneurship for the June 7, 2023 hearing "Tackling Tax Complexity: The Small Business Perspective." It is issued on National Federation of Independent Business letterhead and addressed to Chairmen Wyden and Cardin and Ranking Members Crapo and Young. The statement describes the residential cleaning business, its 42 employees and its financial literacy program for staff. It says the Small Business Deduction (Section 199A) funded an employee raise and promotion in 2018 and helped the business through staffing pressures. It urges Congress to make the deduction permanent.

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   Statement for the Record of Stephanie Camarillo
     Molly Maid of Boise and the Treasure Valley

             United States Senate
    Committees on Finance and Small Business
             and Entrepreneurship

Tackling Tax Complexity: The Small Business Perspective

                     June 7, 2023

     National Federation of Independent Business
            555 12th Street NW, Suite 1001
                   Washington, DC
Thank you, Chairmen Wyden and Cardin, Ranking Members Crapo and Young, and
members of the committees, for taking time to listen to a small business owner.
The Small Business Deduction, also known as Section 199A, has made a difference
to our business and I’m here to tell you how.

My name is Stephanie Camarillo and I have owned one of the largest residential
cleaning businesses in our region, Molly Maid of Boise and the Treasure Valley, for
over 15 years.

Many of our 42 employees are single mothers, some from immigrant families. Most
have never attended college or trade school. It’s easy to think that working for a
cleaning company is a dead-end job. There is a lot of dirty work, but my small
business has had a unique opportunity to impact the lives of our workforce and
their families in ways that can address underlying issues and create generational
change. It’s what makes mine and other small businesses like it such a vital part of a
thriving community.

We have learned that one of the most powerful ways to grow our company and
retain the very best talent is to invest in our people. There are the well-known ways
of investing: paying well, providing meaningful benefits, and offering a supportive
environment. But there are also other ways to invest that small businesses are
uniquely able to understand.

We noticed that our employees were working hard but not getting ahead in their
lives. When we got under the surface, we realized that while our employees were
smart, they did not know how to manage money. Financial literacy was something
we could tackle and teach our employees. We set out to help them understand how
to pay off debt, create an emergency fund, improve credit scores, save for college
and retirement. It worked! Now, close to half of our workforce own their own
homes. These investments have also helped our bottom line and resulted in low
turnover and an engaged workforce.

In 2018, the Small Business Deduction (Section 199A) allowed us to make a
meaningful investment in an employee named Jasmine.

Jasmine is a single mom who felt trapped and unable to advance in her life. She
started working for us as a housecleaner about 6 years ago. She cleaned during the
day and at night she worked to finish her GED. Because of the tax savings through
the Small Business Deduction (Section 199A), we were able to give Jasmine the raise
and promotion she had earned and now she is on our management team. She has
continued to spread her wings and is bound to be promoted again.

Tax relief saves jobs and elevates working families.

I admire bigger businesses and corporations, but small businesses don’t have the
same access to resources. Our business, like so many others, continues to feel
pressures in the economy: inflation, a tight labor force, supply chain constraints.

We were challenged recently in our business when Amazon built a large facility near
our office. We lost employees due to Amazon’s big signing bonuses and promises
of high wages. We really struggled with staffing while Amazon was ramping up.

Wouldn’t you know it! Amazon has since scaled back this facility.

My company remains. It’s because Congress had the foresight to pass the Small
Business Deduction (Section 199A) that helped us to weather this storm.

I am not a tax expert, but I will conclude by saying the Small Business Deduction
(Section 199A) has made a difference for our business. Unless Congress acts,
millions of small businesses like ours face a substantial tax increase in a few short
years, which will be extremely problematic. I urge you to make this deduction
permanent.


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