KARI REHRAUER

• Many large corporations like Amazon pay a significantly lower tax rate than small businesses. Will you support closing loopholes through legislation to ensure that the very wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes? Examples of legislation that address this issue (at the national level) include Sen. Wyden's Small Business Tax Fairness Act and Rep. Bowman's Babies Over Billionaires Act.

  Yes.

  Making sure wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes is not only morally right, it is better for our economy. It evens the playing field so local businesses aren't at a disadvantage and provides funding for public projects that help everyone.

• Massive corporations dominate our economy today. Over the last two decades, 75% of US industries have grown more concentrated, with concentration in the average industry nearly doubling. This has left everything from production of baby formula, e-commerce and healthcare in the hands of a few massive companies that choke off small businesses, raise prices on consumers, and cut wages. Would you support state-level reforms to our antitrust laws to prohibit anti-competitive conduct and breakup monopolists?

  Yes.

  Because we have allowed our industries to become concentrated, we have faced problems in competition, fair wages, and in our supply chain. A strong economy is a diverse economy with strong competition.

• Attorney General Keith Ellison has worked to reprioritize antitrust enforcement in Minnesota, including expanding the antitrust division. However, there are still only a handful of attorneys in the attorney general’s office dedicated to curbing the power of the monopolists that threaten small businesses. Will you support additional funding for the attorney general so that Minnesota can adequately enforce our antitrust laws and create a level playing field for small businesses?

  Yes.

  We need to protect small businesses and fight monopolies and we need to do it now. With a $9 billion surplus in Minnesota, we have the ability to direct funding to essential projects like this.

• Do you have other ideas on how state policy can be used to protect small businesses from concentrated corporate power?

  We need to pass reforms to prevent price gouging by major corporations. By breaking up their concentrated power we will accomplish this, but we also need measures right now to reduce their power and harm in the short-term. I would work to ensure both immediate fixes and long-term solutions.

• Small business employees are only able to work limited hours due to the cost of childcare, a crisis that has only worsened during the pandemic. Do you support capping and subsidizing childcare costs to make it more affordable and accessible, in particular for women of color?

  Yes.

  As a mother, I know how expensive and time-consuming raising children can be. I fully support making childcare affordable.

• The pandemic exposed and exacerbated the lack of access to guaranteed, universal paid family and medical leave for so many small businesses. The vast majority of small businesses lack the capital and the scale to offer paid leave, even when owners want to provide this benefit to their employees. At the other end of the spectrum, sole proprietors frequently are unable to access paid leave and have to accept a significant loss in income when they are out because of reasons related to caregiving or injury/illness. Moreover, private insurers generally do not offer affordable, adequate paid medical leave policies to small businesses and do not offer paid family leave nationally at all. State programs have shown universal paid leave helps level the playing field between them and large businesses. Do you support a universal paid leave policy for small business owners and their employees?

  Yes.

  Paid family and medical leave are essential. As a union member and worker, I have worked to protect workers' rights in this regard. As a state senator, I will work to expand paid family and medical leave by supporting a universal paid leave policy.

• Access to affordable healthcare is an ongoing struggle faced by rural and urban Minnesotans alike. This issue is especially burdensome to sole proprietors, small business owners and their employees on Main Street. Rising drug costs, copays and deductibles mean that even those with health care coverage still pay thousands of dollars per year out of pocket, which means many people avoid getting treatment except for catastrophic health issues. This increases costs for the entire state when people cannot afford regular preventative care and results in ever increasing premiums. Small businesses struggle to pay health insurance for their employees, particularly when small businesses pay 18% more for health care coverage than do large corporations and 1/3 of all dollars spent on health care go to administrative costs. Will you work to ensure all Minnesotans have access to quality, affordable health care?

  Yes.

  Quality, affordable health care is a human right. Our current system is one of the most expensive in the world while struggling to provide the same quality. We need reforms to make health care affordable and higher quality for every Minnesotan.

• Do you believe health care is a right for all people, and will you join the Minnesota Health Plan caucus to push for legislation that would provide universal health care for all Minnesotans?

  Yes.

• Investing in equitable capital access is essential for realizing the value of businesses launched by entrepreneurs not well-served by the current financial system. Black and Latinx entrepreneurs, in particular, have less business equity on average than their white counterparts and experience discrimination in lending; due to financial barriers, their businesses tend to bring in lower revenue and have lower profit margins. Women-owned businesses face similar challenges. This is particularly significant because Black-owned and Latinx-owned businesses are also more likely to be women-owned. Will you lead or support efforts to greatly reduce and hopefully eliminate this discriminatory access to capital for Black, brown, and/or women entrepreneurs so that they too can gain equitable access to low-interest capital?

  Yes.

  We need to support equal access to capital.

• Expanding access to capital is about more than just offering financial products. It also involves providing the support that allows small businesses to obtain high-quality, affordable financing and use it to solidify and grow their businesses, generate good jobs, and contribute to vibrant, equitable communities. (Examples of support include technical assistance, procurement opportunities, and back-office support systems). What ideas do you have for expanding access to these support systems for entrepreneurs?

  I support increased public funding to support expanding access to these support systems, as well as increasing oversight over the organizations providing capital to ensure that it is being distributing equitably.

• Small businesses were impacted by COVID at a disproportionate rate (compared to large businesses) and ongoing challenges exacerbated by COVID mean that many industries have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Many small business owners (particularly those from historically marginalized groups) were left out or disqualified from COVID relief during the pandemic. Though Covid relief programs saved many small businesses, it is clear that the U.S. lacks a public infrastructure for fostering a thriving small business economy – much less a small business economy that is just and equitable. When thinking about the long road ahead towards economic recovery, what ideas do you have in supporting small business owners that have been hit hard during the pandemic?

  Using our $9 billion surplus as well as taxes from fairly taxing corporations, I support funding for programs to protect our small businesses, break up over concentrated industries, and ensure equitable access to capital and relief. In the short term, I believe we should consider additional relief. In the long term, we need to make smart public investments to make sure our small, local businesses have an even playing field.

• COVID has exacerbated existing gaps in the care infrastructure system, unsafe working conditions, and financial burden, among other impacts for small businesses and working families. It is clear that small businesses and working families are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic two and a half years later. With that in mind, why should small business owners and working families trust you with their vote on Election Day?

  As a union member and city councilmember, I know how important it is for us to protect small businesses and working families and I know how to take effective action to ensure that protection. We need a strong public infrastructure to support workers and small, local businesses. I support breaking up monopolies, making large corporations pay their fair share, and universal healthcare.

  I also support following the science and advocated for safe COVID measures that would have allowed us to operate safely and reduce the impact of COVID. My opponent actively fought against pandemic safety measures which worsened the effect of COVID on our state.

  We need a senator who will fight for small businesses and working families. I have experience doing this and will continue to do so as your state senator. Let's work together for a Minnesota that treats working families and local entrepreneurs with dignity and respect.