WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Angus King has introduced legislation to help small business owners who want to provide health insurance to their workers. The Small Business Tax Credit Accessibility Act would expand and simplify the Affordable Care Act’s small business tax credit, making it available to more employers and for a longer period of time.

The Small Business Tax Credit Accessibility Act would:

· Raise the maximum size of businesses that are eligible to receive the credit from 25 employees to 50 employees

· Extend the credit to businesses with higher average wages. Currently, only businesses with an average wage below $50,000 can qualify for the credit. This bill would raise the maximum average wage to 330 percent of the federal poverty line for a family of four ($80,025 in 2015).

· Increase the threshold for a firm to receive the maximum credit from 10 to 20 full-time employees

· Modify the phase-out of the credit to ensure that any business that meets the full-time employee and average wage thresholds will qualify for a tax credit of some magnitude

· Increase the number of years for which a small business may receive the credit to three consecutive years

· Eliminate the requirement that employers claiming the credit contribute the same percentage of the cost for each employee’s health insurance

· Simplify calculations by eliminating the cap that limits eligible employer contributions to average premiums in the state.