With provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) set to expire at the end of the year, the CEO of plumbing distributor First Supply, Kathryn Poehling Seymour, argued in an opinion piece for The Cap Times that small businesses will face significant tax increases, threatening jobs, growth and community investments.

According to Seymour, the 2017 tax reforms fostered an environment where workers experienced upward mobility and enhanced benefits, families gained greater financial security and the economy flourished.

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Seymour emphasized the importance of the TCJA’s 20% small business deduction, which, according to the tech website EY, “directly supports 2.6 million jobs.” She said the law also lowered tax rates and expanded deductions, benefiting over 460,000 Wisconsin-based businesses. Since its passage, plumbing distributor First Supply has invested in technology, opened a new distribution center creating 80 jobs and expanded employee benefits.

Seymour warned that allowing the tax cuts to lapse would hurt investment and job growth. She urged Congress to make the cuts permanent and preserve policies like the last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory system. LIFO enables businesses to restock inventory and reduce costs, ensuring that retailers, contractors and families have the supplies necessary to keep the economy functioning.

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“First Supply operates on tight margins, so higher or lower taxes can be the difference between whether we are able to make new investments in our workforce and business,” Seymour said in her Feb. 20 statement.

Seymour argued that small and family-owned businesses, including First Supply, along with 30 million others, could experience significant economic setbacks if Congress does not act.

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“Congress must act quickly to make important pro-worker and pro-business tax policies permanent to provide important certainty to our economy, communities, small businesses and families,” Seymour concluded.

To read more about Seymour’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act opinion, click here.