Rep. Janelle Bynum: "The American Dream can’t leave behind our rural communities"

Business is in my blood. Before being elected to represent Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District, I owned local restaurants with my husband and served in the State House.

So I know firsthand that small businesses aren’t just a lifeline for our local economies, but they’re the heartbeat of our communities, especially in rural areas. They’re where we connect, where our kids get their first job, and where the future of our towns are built.

When I went home to Oregon this August, I joined forces with Rep. Andrea Salinas and the New Dems to convene a roundtable in Silverton, a rural part of my district, to hear directly from small businesses about what they need. Here’s what I learned:

1. There’s far too much red tape.

Small businesses in rural areas face one obstacle after another – they don’t need government making their lives harder. That’s why I’m proud to have made progress on this by passing three bipartisan bills in the House: the Access to Small Business Investor Capital Act, the ELEVATE Act, and the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act.

All three of these bills make it easier for small businesses to access the capital they need to get off the ground and stay open. We must continue updating our laws to reduce red tape and I won’t stop fighting until these bills are signed into law.

2. The government needs to keep its promises.

I heard from businesses that were relying on funding from the government that’s been pulled back by the Trump Administration. That recklessness impacts decisions both in the short and the long term. As a former business owner, I know how important it is to be able to plan for the future without uncertainty. If a business is promised a certain level of funding, the government better not mess with that based on the whims of this President.

3. There needs to be urgency.

There are far too many projects in my district and across the country that are stalled. Rural communities don’t have years to wait for improvements to roads, broadband, or education. When people are counting on something to be done, it needs to get done, plain and simple. The delays must stop.

4. Invest in our rural communities.

We must give our rural and small businesses what the tools they need to thrive in addition to expanding access to capital and removing obstacles. We need to be investing in the communities they operate in, which means funding new infrastructure projects to expand access to clean drinking water, improve transportation systems, and build more affordable housing.

The American dream should be available to all Americans – including our rural communities.

As a freshman on the House Financial Services Committee and as a member of the New Dems, I’m committed to making sure our rural small businesses have a fighting chance. It’s our job to make sure we aren’t boxing people out of opportunities. To make the dream of starting a business, or taking over the family one, a reality. I’ll keep working across the aisle to strengthen our rural economies, until the American dream is working for everybody.

Congresswoman Janelle Bynum is a working mom of four, engineer, businesswoman, and former state legislator now representing Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District in Congress.