Vice President Kamala Harris and her presidential campaign did not respond to The Tennessee Star when asked whether she regrets her role in passing the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021, which could result in severe fines or imprisonment for 33 million small business owners in the United States next year.
Harris was one of the 86 senators who voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2021 in December of 2020, which included the Corporate Transparency Act after Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) successfully included the bill that failed to pass as standalone legislation in 2019.
The Corporate Transparency Act requires businesses that gross less than $5 million in sales to complete a federal form containing their beneficial ownership information with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by January 2025.
Small business owners who fail to comply with the legislation could face prison sentences of up to five years and up to $250,000 in fines.
Brown claimed the law offers “new tools to crack down on anonymous shell companies and on big banks that enable criminals or have lax anti-money laundering compliance programs.”
Despite the impending deadline, Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz told The Michael Patrick Leahy Show on Monday that polling by his organization revealed most small business owners who must comply with the law are unaware of its existence.
“You’re going to have millions and millions of small business owners that will be fully exposed to the federal government coming, knocking at their doors, arresting them, or fining them,” Ortiz told Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Star.
Harris’ campaign did not respond to The Star when asked whether the vice president regrets her 2020 vote, or whether she would work to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act if elected president in November.
Brown, who is now in a tight race for reelection against Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, similarly did not reply to The Star after his campaign was asked whether he would reverse course and vote to repeal the legislation.
Though Brown was among the sponsors of the bill in the U.S. Senate in 2019, the legislation languished until December 2020, when it was included in the 2021 NDAA initially vetoed by former President Donald Trump. Brown and Harris were among the Democrats who voted to reverse Trump’s veto, allowing the legislation to become law.
Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration are often accused by Trump and his supporters of weaponizing the federal government against their political opponents, and Ortiz noted the majority of small business owners at risk under the Corporate Transparency Act are Republican during his appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“About 70 percent of [small businesses], based on our last estimate, are actually Republicans. So it’s interesting that 70 percent of businesses that are out there could be targeted because they’re Republicans.”
Ortiz added, “It wouldn’t be a surprise if that really happens. You start creating the list, and that’s basically a target list for the federal government.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kamala Harris” by Kamala Harris.
