| Year | Pres. | House | Senate | Democrats | Republicans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | R | R | R | ||
| 1904 | R | R | R | ||
| 1908 | R | R | R | ||
| 1912 | R | D | R | ||
| 1916 | D | D | D | ||
| 1920 | D | R | R | ||
| 1924 | R | R | R | ||
| 1928 | R | R | R | ||
| 1932 | R | R | R | ||
| 1936 | D | D | D | ||
| 1940 | D | D | D | We promise to encourage the small business man by removing unnecessary bureaucratic regulation and |
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| 1944 | D | D | D | Promotion of the success of small business. Earliest possible release of wartime controls. | Small business is the basis of American enterprise. It must be preserved. |
| 1948 | D | R | R | We recognize the importance of small business in a sound American economy. It must be protected against unfair discrimination and monopoly, and be given equal opportunities with competing enterprises to expand its capital structure. | Small business, the bulwark of American enterprise, must be encouraged through aggressive anti-monopoly action, elimination of unnecessary controls, protection against discrimination, correction of tax abuses, and limitation of competition by governmental organizations. |
| 1952 | D | D | D | We pledge ourselves to increased efforts to assure that small business be given equal opportunity to participate in Government contracts, and that a suitable proportion of the dollar volume of defense contracts be channeled into independent small business. | We will aid small business in every practicable way. We shall remove tax abuses and injurious price and wage controls. |
| 1956 | R | D | D | To tax relief for all small and independent businesses by fair and equitable adjustments in Federal taxation which will encourage business expansion, and to the realistic application of the principle of graduated taxation to such corporate income. | Beginning with our creation of the very successful Small Business Administration, and continuing through the recently completed studies and recommendations of the Cabinet Committee on Small Business, which we strongly endorse, we have focused our attention on positive measures to help small businesses get started and grow. |
| 1960 | R | D | D | The loan program of the Small Business Administration should be accelerated, and the independence of that agency preserved. The Small Business Investment Act of 1958 must be administered with a greater sense of its importance and possibilities. | |
| 1964 | D | D | D | We will stimulate as well as protect small business, the seedbed of free enterprise and a major source of employment in our economy. | It has aggravated the problems of small business by multiplying Federal record-keeping requirements and has hurt thousands of small businessmen by forcing up their costs. |
| 1968 | D | D | D | Small business plays a vital role in a dynamic, competitive economy; it helps maintain a strong social fabric in communities across the land; it builds concerned community leadership deriving from ownership of small enterprises; and it maintains the challenge and competition essential to a free enterprise system. | A new Republican Administration will undertake an intensive program to aid small business, including economic incentives and technical assistance, with increased emphasis in rural and urban poverty areas. |
| 1972 | R | D | D | Small business, so vital to our economic system, is free enterprise in its purest sense. It holds forth opportunity to the individual, regardless of race or color, to fulfill the American dream. The seedbed of innovation and invention, it is the starting point of many of the country’s large businesses, and today its roll in our increasingly technological economy is crucial. We pledge to sustain and expand that role. |
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| 1976 | R | D | D | A healthy and growing small business community is prerequisite for increasing competition and a thriving national economy. While most people would accept this view, the federal government has in the past impeded the growth of small businesses. | Small business, so vital to our economic system, is free enterprise in its purest sense. It holds forth opportunity to the individual, regardless of race or sex, to fulfill the American dream. Small businesses are the base of our economy and its main source of strength. |
| 1980 | D | D | D | A review of regulations and requirements which impose unnecessary burdens upon smaller firms. Results should provide relief for smaller firms which now pay $12.7 billion a year to fill 850 million pages of government paperwork. We will adopt regulatory requirements to meet the needs of smaller firms, where such action will not interfere with the objectives of the regulation. | We believe that wherever feasible, small business should be exempt from regulations and, where exemption is not feasible, small business should be subject to a less onerous tier of regulation. We have offered legislation to reimburse small businessmen who successfully challenge the federal government in court. Republicans believe the number one priority for small business in America is the achievement of lower business and personal tax rates for small businessmen and women and we intend to work to secure them. |
| 1984 | R | D | R | The Democratic Party recognizes that small businesses create many, if not most of the new jobs in our country, and are responsible for much of the innovation. They are thus our greatest hope for the future. Our capacity as a nation to create an environment that encourages and nurtures innovative new businesses will determine our success in providing jobs for our people. . . o further meet the needs of smaller minority businesses, we favor increasing government procurement, opportunities for smaller minority firms, encouraging deposits of federal funds in minority-owned financial institutions, and vigorously implementing all set-aside provisions for minority | We have created a climate conducive to small business growth. Our tax rate reductions increased incentives for entrepreneurial activity and provided investment capital through incentives to save. Reduced capital gains taxes further stimulated capital formation and increased the return on small business investment. Greater depreciation allowances encouraged modernization. Estate tax changes will allow families to keep the rewards of their labors. |
| 1988 | R | D | D | ||
| 1992 | R | D | D | To create jobs and keep small business growing, the Republican Party supports increased access to capital for business expansion, exporting, long term investment, opportunity capital for the disadvantaged, and capital to bring new products and new technology to the market. . . The Republican Party enthusiastically encourages the passage of federal enterprise zones. |
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| 1996 | D | R | R | We want to cut taxes for small businesses that invest in the future and set up pensions for their workers. And we want to cut taxes for people who are self-employed and self- insured so their health care is more affordable. . . We know that it is good for America when small, minority, and women- owned businesses have the opportunity to grow and prosper. These business-owners create new jobs, expand opportunities, and serve as powerful role models for young people. Over the last four years, the President has transformed the Small Business Administration to eliminate burdensome paperwork and deliver real assistance to entrepreneurs as they work to start or expand their | Small businesses are the engines of growth and job creation. They generate 75 percent of new jobs and 55 percent of our gross domestic product. The Republican Party is committed to the survival, the revival, and the resurgence of small business. In addition to our overall program of lower taxes, regulatory reform, and less spending, we will: . . . allow small businesses to deduct the costs of their health insurance. |
| 2000 | R | R | R | he Democratic Party is committed to sustaining and adding to that level of growth of small businesses, including home based businesses. Democrats believe that strengthening small businesses is a vital component of strategies to create opportunity and community economic development. We will build on the tremendous progress of the Clinton-Gore Administration in modernizing the Small Business Administration and improving access to the Federal marketplace. | Small businesses are the underlying essence of our economy. Small businesses create most of the new jobs and keep this country a land of opportunity. . . They deserve far better treatment from government than they have received. We will provide it through many of the initiatives explained elsewhere in this platform: lower tax rates, ending the death tax, cutting through red tape, legal and product liability reform, and the aggressive expansion of overseas markets for their goods and services. |
| 2004 | R | R | R | Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy. We will encourage small business growth with a plan to make it easier for small businesses to secure capital and loans. We support tax credits and energy investments that slash overall operating costs for small businesses and encourage them to grow and expand here in America. | Republicans pledged in 2000 to lower tax rates for small business owners and entrepreneurs, end the death tax, cut red tape, reform our liability system, and aggressively expand overseas markets for our goods and services. Though more work remains to be done, including reauthorizing the Small Business Administration, President Bush and Congressional Republicans have made good on each of those commitments. |
| 2008 | R | D | D | Encouraging new industry and creating jobs means giving more support to American entrepreneurs. We will exempt all start-up companies from capital gains taxes and provide them a tax credit for health insurance. We will provide a new tax credit for small businesses that offer quality health insurance to their employees. We will help small businesses facing high energy costs. | Small businesses such as Main Street retailers, entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and direct sellers create most of the country’s new jobs and have been the primary means of economic advancement by women and minorities. |
| 2012 | D | R | D | Democrats believe that small businesses are the engine of job growth in America. President Obama signed 18 small- business tax cuts to encourage businesses to hire more workers and make job-creating investments in machinery and equipment and proposed significant additional small business tax relief. He encouraged investment and supported start-ups by allowing businesses to write off the full cost of new equipment and machinery they bought in | We will reform the tax code to allow businesses to generate enough capital to grow and create jobs for our families, friends and neighbors all across America. We will encourage investments in small businesses. We will create an environment where adequate financing and credit are available to spur manufacturing and expansion. We will serve as aggressive advocates for small businesses. |
| 2016 | D | R | R | By supporting small business and entrepreneurship, we can grow jobs faster in America. We will cut the red tape that holds back small businesses and entrepreneurs. We will open up access to credit because we know that small businesses are some of the best job creators in our country. We will provide tax relief and tax simplification. | More businesses are closing in our country than are starting. Older firms are an increasing proportion of companies. Productivity growth has slowed. This is not the way to jumpstart a new era of growth. We need to consider the effect of capital gains rates on the availability of venture capital, as well as the positive impact of expensing on start-up |
| 2020 | R | D | R | Democrats know that small businesses are among the best job creators in our country. We will significantly boost funding for state small business grant and lending initiatives that generate tens of billions of dollars of private-sector investment, especially for small businesses owned by women and people of color. We will increase access to credit for small businesses in low-income and rural areas, including for unbanked or underbanked businesses. And we will increase funding for programs supporting businesses owned by women and people of color, including ending the Trump Administration’s effort to starve the Minority Business Development Agency, improving and expanding Small Business Administration (SBA) programs that most effectively support women- and minority-owned businesses, and increasing opportunities for women- and minority- | |
| 2024 | D | R | D | As a result, America is today in the midst of a historic small- business boom. A record 18 million new business applications have been filed since Joe Biden became president – the three strongest years of new business growth in history, and over 90 percent faster than pre- pandemic averages. Since the pandemic, the share of Black households owning a business has more than doubled, Latino business ownership is up 40 percent, and women own a record share of businesses. As President Biden often says, each new business formed is an act of hope. |