A Year of Accomplishments Means More Hard Work Ahead in 2025

This time each year it’s always good to look back at what’s been accomplished over the last 12 months, and what work lies ahead in the new year.

At Family Enterprise USA, we’ve seen a year of significant gains in getting our messages out on Capitol Hill and letting our policy makers know about the importance of the economic engine that are family businesses in America.

The movement of economic and tax policies is often maddeningly slow and challenging in Washington, D.C. Educating our legislators on the importance of family businesses is a multi-year process spread across multiple administrations and political parties.

It takes time, and a lot of work.

Despite these barriers, we’ve seen significant progress and media attention to such important subjects as the continuation of favorable provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, restoring R&D expensing and bonus depreciation, and adding new members to the Congressional Family Business Caucus.

Our goals in 2024 , as in previous years, were to educate our lawmakers on Capitol Hill on the many harmful proposals under consideration by Congress, by the old and new Administrations, and by our regulatory agencies.

Actions Speak Volumes

Our actions this year and next year will continue to hammer away on these issues. If we don’t, no one else will. We are your voice on Capitol Hill.

Here are just a few of the key issues we worked on this year and will continue to work on in 2025.

• Educate existing and new legislators on Capitol Hill on the size and power of America’s largest private employer, Family Business
• Use the Congressional Family Business Caucus as a platform for education, dialogue, and one-to-one meetings with key policy writers
• Get the message out encouraging Congress to extend, retain, and improve key portions of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA)
• Promote the Restoration of the R&D Expensing, Bonus Depreciation, and Other Pro-Business Tax Policies
• Secure an Estate Tax Rate reduction and/or prevent a reduction in the Lifetime Exemption
• Avoid the Elimination of Step-Up in Basis
• Stop any movement to Eliminating Valuation Discounts or limitations on Valuation Rules for Estate Tax Purposes
• Curtail and lessen taxes on Passthrough Business Profits (199A)
• Prevent an increase in the Top Income Tax Rate
• Avoid an increase in the Top Capital Gains Tax Rate
• Implementation of a Surtax on Income, Mark-to-Market Regime, and/or Other Taxes on Successful Individuals and Wealth
• Stop Elimination or Limitations on Grantor Trusts and/or GRATS
• Prevent Limitations on Retirement Accounts and/or Elimination of Holding Private Stock in IRA’s
• Avoid elimination of Like Kind Exchanges
• Work with Congress to introduce and add co-sponsors for the Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act
• Support the work of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition and the estate tax repeal bill
• Grow the Congressional Family Business Caucus and continue to work with Congress to hold 3 meetings a year.

Getting the Word Out

When it comes to getting the word out about family businesses and the challenges they face, here are a few of the highlights from our last 12 months:

• Organized more than 35 Regional Meetings with presentations on new family business research findings, legislative/regulatory updates, background on the Congressional Family Business Caucus, and voter attitudes
• Facilitated 3 Congressional Family Business Caucus meetings in DC for Congress
• Conducted over 100 “Hill visits” with Members of Congress with family business owners and others.
• Hosted four Quarterly Update Calls with Members of Congress, Congressional staff, outside communications experts, and family business leaders
• Hosted 12 webcasts for our supporters
• Produced the monthly podcast, “The Voice of Family Business on Capitol Hill,” with experts and legislators on Spotify, iTunes, and other podcast platforms
• Authored monthly “Saying It Out Loud” Op-Ed column distributed to a potential distribution database of 100,000 readers
• Authored bi-monthly column, “From the Hill,” for Family Business Magazine
• Produce 20+ Family Business Videos on PATG YouTube channel and distribute via email, social media, and press release
• Sent four to five emails and one-to-two press releases per week to the media and to a distribution base up to 100,000 or more
• Customized articles for 12 key family business-oriented associations spotlighting key issues to be focused on

All these actions required a steady diligence by our team, partners, and supporters. With your help, we see 2025 as another year of important accomplishments.

And, with your support, we will make a significant difference for family businesses of all sizes and industries around the country.

We thank for the great year behind us, and for your engagement and support in the year ahead.

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