WHY SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY STARTS WITH OUR PAC

Small business leaders are expected to do it all — hire and retain talent, manage risk, maintain culture, and navigate policy changes that seem to shift by the day. Most of the time, they’re doing it without a government affairs team on speed dial. That’s where we come in.

At NAPEO, we talk a lot about how PEOs level the playing field. We help small businesses offer quality benefits, stay compliant, and focus on growth. But equally important — and often less visible — is the advocacy we lead on their behalf. That advocacy starts with our Political Action Committee (PAC).

The NAPEO PAC exists to make sure our industry, and the small businesses we serve, have a seat at the table. It gives us the ability to build trusted relationships with lawmakers, educate them on the power of the PEO model, and influence the policy decisions that impact our customers every day — from tax treatment to health benefits access to co-employment recognition.

Recent findings from a survey we ran underscore just how urgent this work is. A full 60% of working Americans believe policy changes — not AI — will have more of a direct impact on them personally over the next year. And workers at small businesses are even more likely to feel overwhelmed and under-informed, with 46% saying they don’t feel knowledgeable about recent policy shifts. Nearly half (45%) say they’re looking to their HR team to help them understand the impact on them.

The message is clear: policy is personal. And when our industry shows up in D.C. or a state capital, we’re not just advocating for PEOs — we’re standing in for thousands of small employers who can’t be there themselves.

We’ve seen what this looks like in action: recognition of PEOs at the state level, fighting for timely ERTC payments and access to PPP loans, and pushing back on proposals that would weaken co-employment protections. These wins don’t happen by accident — they happen because of the groundwork we’ve laid through PAC-supported engagement.

Our customers don’t always see this work firsthand, but they feel the results. When a PEO is recognized in a new state, it means small businesses there can offer their employees high-quality retirement and health benefit options. When a burdensome proposal gets defeated, it’s one less distraction pulling small business leaders away from their teams. And when relief funds and tax credits finally flow to the companies that earned them, that’s our industry’s advocacy at its best — showing what’s possible when we give our customers a platform in D.C.

If you’ve contributed to the PAC, thank you. If you haven’t yet, now is the time to get involved. The pace of change isn’t slowing down — and neither is our responsibility to advocate for the businesses that count on us.

When we invest in the PAC, we’re not just defending the PEO model. We’re ensuring small business voices are heard, and shaping the kind of policy environment they need to succeed.

Let’s keep showing up. They’re counting on us.