Throughout the televised debates, press conferences, town halls and campaign rallies, I thought there was too little attention paid to where the candidates stood on critical small-business issues. So, I asked the mainstream candidates to share exactly where they stand on five key issues concerning America’s entrepreneurs.

These five questions, based on real questions posted on bulletin boards hosted by Netscape’s Netbusiness.com, were submitted in writing a few weeks ago to the Gore and Bush campaign headquarters. The answers were relayed via e-mail and appear here.

What specific tax incentives do you support that would help small-business owners?

Gov. George W. Bush: “I believe that reducing the marginal tax rates is the best way to promote economic growth through the tax code. It is critical to reduce taxes on entrepreneurial success in order to help expand the economy through innovation.

“Specifically, my tax plan would cut all tax rates. The maximum marginal tax rates of 36 percent and 39.6 percent, which many small-business owners are subject to, would be cut to 33 percent. This large reduction will leave more resources with successful entrepreneurs.

“In addition, entrepreneurs and small-business owners are also singled out for punishment by the estate tax,better known as the “death tax.” Right now, inheriting a family business generally means inheriting a tax, on assets over $650,000, of between 37 percent and 55 percent. Family businesses often can’t afford this. They may have assets, but lack ready cash. The death tax violates virtually every principle of common sense and free enterprise and I intend to abolish it.”

Vice President Al Gore Jr.: “I will not risk our economic prosperity with a huge tax scheme that would throw us back into an era of trillion-dollar deficits and hurt our ability to pay down the national debt. Within the context of a balanced budget and key investments in our people, I have been a long-time supporter of targeted tax cuts aimed at spurring investment in small business.

“I support raising the estate tax exemption for small businesses and family farms from $2.6 million to $5 million per couple. This change would mean that 70 percent of small businesses currently subject to the estate tax would no longer have to pay any estate tax on their small businesses.

“In 1997, I fought for the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut the estate tax, increased the health insurance deduction for self-employed individuals and updated home-office deductions. As president, I will go further by making the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit permanent. I will also expand this new R & D; Tax Credit so that small businesses can take better advantage of it.”

Small-business owners are concerned about finding qualified workers. What would your administration do to educate and train employees of small companies?

Bush: “I am committed to making educational excellence our nation’s paramount priority, and this commitment to education will strengthen America’s workforce. Worker retraining is an important part of that goal. I have proposed allowing individuals to place up to $5,000 a year 10 times the current amount into tax-free education savings accounts. These accounts can be used toward any level of education, including worker retraining, college or graduate work.

“I have also proposed a number of reforms to address the need for more math and science education, including a package of new initiatives totaling $2.3 billion over five years.”

Gore: “I believe the most important business investment we can make is in our human capital. That is why I am proposing a new 401(j) account, which would allow employers and individuals to save, tax-free, for qualified education expenses like job training and life-long learning. In addition, I will fight to make up to $10,000 of tuition and fees for post-secondary education and training-tax deductibles, a plan that will open the doors to college for millions of Americans.

“I will offer assistance, in the form of matching grants, to help develop worker skills. These competitive grants will be offered to communities that develop a plan to partner with local workforce boards, industry and labor groups, as well as regional skill alliances to develop meaningful, accredited learning opportunities for workers to acquire the skills needed in their communities. In addition to state grants, I will offer employers a tax credit up to $6,000 per employee for worker training in information technology and other technology skills.”

Business owners are concerned about taxing Internet transactions. Where do you stand on this issue?

Bush: “There is a ban on all federal taxes on e-commerce sales, at least through October 2004. The Internet Tax Freedom Act restricts the taxation of out-of-state commerce until October 2001. I have proposed continuing this moratorium to ensure that the growth of the Internet is not slowed by the heavy hand of government and that the implications of Internet taxation are fully understood before a permanent ban is considered.

“As Governor, I cut the state Internet access and data processing tax, and I believe that the federal government should permanently ban Internet access taxes. Government should work to make access to the Internet affordable to everyone and not raise the cost through additional taxation.”

Gore: “As Vice President, I supported the Internet Tax Freedom Act that was signed into law during our current administration. This imposed a three-year moratorium on state and local taxes associated with electronic commerce. The act also created the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce to consider the tax and trade issues associated with electronic commerce.

“I am committed to finding a solution that will allow the Internet and e-commerce to flourish, but without stripping the states and localities of the revenue they need to educate our children and fight crime, or harming the competitiveness of the traditional brick-and-mortar businesses that still drive America’s economy. As president, I will work with Congress and American businesses (small and large) to secure an extension of the moratorium that addresses the concerns of all interested parties.”

Small-business owners spend thousands of hours a year dealing with government paperwork. What will your administration do to cut the red tape?

Bush: “I believe America will be prosperous if we reduce the regulations and pro-litigation culture that strangles enterprise. Sensible regulatory reform can produce significant improvements in the economy, and more importantly, save or improve thousands of lives.

“Under the current administration, the number of federal regulations, the number of federal regulators and the direct cost of regulation to the economy have all gone unchecked, imposing a huge, hidden tax on American consumers, particularly small businesses and the people who depend on them.

“Americans deserve a clean environment, safe products and competitive prices, but government regulation is often a poor substitute for efficient market regulation. I’m results-oriented and believe that regulations should be flexible, allowing businesses to choose the best way to meet and achieve a goal.

“I also favor rigorous analysis of the costs, benefits and risks of regulations before implementing them, so we ensure better use of taxpayer dollars. We must also improve regulatory decision-making and establish regulatory accountability. Above all, we must be innovative and encourage companies to go beyond mere compliance and seek solutions that will produce greater results than are often possible under rigid rules mandated from afar by a distant bureaucracy.”

Gore: “A principal focus of my time and energy over the past eight years as vice president has been creating the Reinventing Government initiative (REGO) to bring better services to the American people with less red tape and greater focus on results and customer service. So far, REGO has saved taxpayers $137 billion and eliminated more than 16,000 pages of regulations and 640,000 pages of internal rules. It has also reduced the federal workforce by more than 350,000 positions.

“I will continue my work to cut bureaucracy and red tape by moving government online in order to provide information anytime and anywhere. It is important to make the sometimes overwhelming amount of information available through these Web sites more manageable by creating a single, central site (FirstGov.gov) that provides a user-friendly interface to working with the government. I will continue to improve Access America, which permits Americans to perform activities online, like filing taxes, filing for trademarks, obtaining help in starting small businesses and finding information about job training. As president, I will continue this fight to eliminate unnecessary red tape by making nearly every government service easily accessible online by 2003.”

Note: The final question was about support of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Both candidates said they support the SBA and would continue to fund its efforts, if elected.

Jane Applegate is the author of “201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business,” and is founder of ApplegateWay.com, a multimedia Web site for busy entrepreneurs. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].