Majority of small business owners don’t want taxpayers covering student loan debts

Small business owners are happy that the Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt and put the bill on the American taxpayer, a new poll shows.

The Job Creators Network Small Business survey, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com on Monday, found that 73 percent of business owners oppose Biden’s plan to cut $400 billion in student loans.

The figure has risen in recent months as the Supreme Court took up the case against Biden’s aid plan and ruled against it in late June.

Biden presented his plan to wipe out billions in student debt last summer.

Most borrowers with outstanding loans would receive up to $10,000 in forgiveness under the plan — those who had a Pell Grant were eligible for up to $20,000 in forgiveness. The only exceptions were individuals earning $125,000 or couples earning $250,000.

The Supreme Court ruled late last month against President Biden’s broad aid plan, which would have saddled the US taxpayer with the $400 billion bill

The president directed the education department to implement a new forgiveness rule using the 9/11-era HEROs Act. Immediate rule-making challenges took the issue to the Supreme Court with critics arguing that the HEROs law could not be used and others saying the rule-making process was inappropriate because there was no public comment period.

“This latest round of polling includes good news and bad news,” Elaine Parker, president of the JCN Foundation, said in a statement about the survey results. “The good news is that the Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to the government’s overreach by stopping the White House student loan bailout — a decision that more than 70 percent of business owners agree with.”

The bad news is that small businesses continue to bear the brunt of an economic surge that is forcing many employers to pause hiring and pay increases,” she added.

Small businesses, Parker said, are not being “fooled” by the “rosy economic picture” painted by the White House.

Only 13 percent of the 400 small business owners surveyed said they disagreed with the Supreme Court’s ruling that Biden cannot override the legislative process by granting massive forgiveness to student loan borrowers.

Another 14 percent of entrepreneurs are not sure where they stand with regard to the ruling.

This is a jump in contrast to Biden’s proposal from the same poll in May, which found that 70 percent thought taxpayers shouldn’t be responsible for student loan debt and 18 percent said they should be.

The smaller the company, the more the employer resisted widespread student loan forgiveness, according to the poll.

Seventy-four percent of those with two to nine employees agree with the Supreme Court ruling not to burden taxpayers with paying back student loans. Employers with between 10 and 19 employees agree with a rate of 72 percent, and 70 percent of companies with 20 or more employees oppose Biden’s plan.

In addition, the more money the business brings in, the more likely they are to want borrowers to pay their own bills — with the exception of small businesses with revenues over $1 million.

More than eight in 10 small business owners with between $500,000 and $1 million in revenue are in favor of taxpayers not footing the bill. Conversely, only 59 percent of business owners feel the same way with sales under $100,000.

The monthly JCN Small Business Survey, conducted by pollsters John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates and Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports, provides insight into the policies that affect small business employers.

Small business owners and employers are increasingly concerned about the economic state of the country.

Two-thirds have temporarily halted hiring and employee pay raises due to the current economic conditions in the US – and 53 percent say “rising prices” are their top business concern right now.

Meanwhile, Biden continued his tour of the country last week to promote his newly revealed “Bidenomics” plan.