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Family Enterprise USA Organizes First Caucus Meeting March 17 focused on Affordability Strategies for Family-Owned Businesses
Two House of Representatives members, Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) are the new Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Family Business Caucus, it was announced today.
The first 2026 Caucus meeting will be held March 17 on Capitol Hill.
The Congressional Family Business Caucus was first formed in 2023. The Caucus’s mission is to educate and inform legislators on how many jobs family businesses create and how important they are to the economy. Family Enterprise USA’s (FEUSA) is an organizer of the group. In addition, FEUSA created the Women’s Business Owners Group which is instrumental in the process and a supporter of the Caucus.
According to research, America’s family-owned businesses contribute $7.7 trillion annually to the U.S. gross domestic product, accounting for 83.3 million jobs, or 59 percent of the country’s private workforce.
Rep. Correa, a past member of the Caucus, has represented California’s 46th congressional district since 2017. The district is in Southern California’s Orange County, with the major cities being Anaheim and Santa Ana.
For the 118th Congress, Correa serves on the Committee on Homeland Security, is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement and is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust of the Committee on the Judiciary.
“Our economy is driven by family businesses whose owners and employees are usually our neighbors. My parents worked hard to give me the opportunity to reach the middle class and starting a family business provides the same possibility to millions of Americans,” Rep. Correa said. “We need to make sure that family businesses continue to flourish across different industries, and the Family Business Caucus will work to help Main Street entrepreneurs achieve their American Dream.”
Prior to politics, Correa was an investment banker, a real estate broker, and a college instructor.
Rep. Tenney, a past co-chair of the Caucus, has represented New York’s upstate districts 24 and 22 since being elected in 2016. As a freshman member of the 115th Congress, she served on the House Financial Services Committee. She currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
“Family-owned businesses are the backbone of communities across the country, creating jobs, supporting local economies, and carrying on traditions that span generations. As someone who helped run my family’s business, I understand the unique challenges these businesses face, from rising costs and workforce pressures to complex regulations and tax policy. I look forward to working with Congressman Correa and our colleagues in the Caucus to ensure family businesses have a strong voice in Congress and the policies they need to grow, compete, and continue supporting millions of American workers,” said Congresswoman Tenney.
Tenney is an attorney and was the co-owner and legal counsel to Mid-York Press, Inc., a commercial printing and manufacturing firm started by her grandfather in 1946.
In 1997, she established Tenney Media Group and served as its publisher and corporate counsel.
Family-Owned Businesses and Congress
This year, the first of its three meetings will focus on affordability with the meeting’s theme being, “Pricing and Profits: Affordability Strategies for Family-Owned Businesses.”
Family Enterprise USA and Family Enterprise USA Action will also be organizers of this year’s meetings.
The Congressional Family Business Caucus will be held at Capitol Building’s Visitor Center and features presentations from Family Enterprise USA, family business leaders, legislative and tax experts, and members of Congress. In the afternoon, attendees will meet with their House Members and staff in House Members’ offices.
The March 17 meeting kicks off with a panel of family business owners and discussions led by Soldano and John Gugliada, Director of Engagement for both Family Enterprise USA and Family Enterprise USA Action.
Attendees will see highlights from the annual survey, hear legislative and political updates by the law and government affairs firm Brownstein, and a “What Now” presentation by communications expert and political analyst Dr. Frank Luntz.
“We’re grateful to see Representatives Tenney and Correa co-chair the Congressional Family Business Caucus for the 119th Congress. We’re also excited to kick-off this year’s meetings with the theme of affordability strategies for family businesses.
Our two co-chairs are intimately familiar with the struggles and unique challenges family-owned businesses face versus traditional corporations. We look forward to their leadership in helping family-owned businesses get their voices heard in Congress,” said Pat Soldano, President, Family Enterprise USA.
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The need for fact-based reporting of issues important to family owned businesses and protecting a lifetime of savings has never been greater. Now more than ever, successful families and family owned businesses are under fire. That's why Family Enterprise USA is passionately working to increase the awareness of issues important to family owned businesses built on hard work, while continuing to strengthen our presence on Capitol Hill. The issues we fight for or against with Congress in Washington DC include high income tax rates, possible elimination of valuation discounts, increase in capital gains tax, enactment of a wealth tax, and the continued burden of the gift tax, estate tax and generation skipping tax.
Family Enterprise USA promotes generationally owned family business creation, growth, viability, and sustainability by advocating for family businesses and their lifetime of savings with Congress in Washington DC. Since 2007, Family Enterprise USA has represented and celebrated all sizes, professions and industries of family-owned enterprises and multi-generational employers. It is a bi-partisan 501.c3 organization. Family foundations can donate.
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