There have been fewer than 300 women elected to the House of Representatives since Jeanette Rankin became the first in 1916; in nearly 230 years, only 52 women have been elected as US senators. Women comprise less than half of their state legislatures in all of the 50 states of the union and less than 35 percent of state legislatures in all but six. It's safe to say that strides toward gender and racial equality in the nation's politics have been slow, and far between.
But, with the 2018 midterms, we’ll be seeing more groundbreaking women who could totally change the game. Among these are candidates poised to become the youngest members of the House, the first transgender congressperson and governor, and even the US’ first Black woman governor.
Here are nine candidates whose wins could make history.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who will have just turned 29 in time for the election, is poised to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. This first-time politician’s odds of winning are good: Her district has been a strongly Democratic one for decades.
She’s inspired people not just in her New York district, but around the country. "Women like me aren't supposed to run for office,” she said in her campaign video. “I wasn't born to a wealthy or powerful family. But we have to ask ourselves... who has New York been changing for?" (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
Stacey Abrams: Stacey Abrams may make history in two ways if she wins her run for Governor in Georgia this year. She’ll not only be the first-ever Black woman governor in US history, but she’ll also be the first woman elected to the position in the state.
In her primary victory speech, Abrams said she was inspired to run in order to make Georgia better for everyone, especially Georgians who felt they didn’t have a voice. "I'm running because I want every Georgia family to have the freedom and the opportunity to thrive,” she said. “You deserve nothing less, and I know Georgia can deliver a whole lot more." (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Essence)
Paulette Jordan: Idaho gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan has a tough road ahead, but also an exciting one. Though she’s campaigning in a strong Republican state, the Democrat and member of the Skitswish Nation (Coeur d’Alene) could become the first woman governor of the state, and the first Native American governor in American history.
“I think it’s great, and I’m really excited that we are breaking a lot of barriers from age and race to gender, but it’s not the goal,” Jordan told The Independent in June. “The goal is to bring back real representation – whether a man or woman – bringing back leadership to the people that they can be confident and believe in.” (Photo by Sam Morris/Getty Images)
Ilhan Omar: 36-year-old Ilhan Omar became the first Somali-American elected to US office when she won a seat in the Minnesota state House in 2016. With her August primary win to replace retiring Democratic House member Keith Ellison, she is now poised to become the first Somali-American elected to the federal government as well as the first hijabi Muslim woman elected at the federal level.
Omar is a refugee who came to the US in 1995 with her family, and often cites her time in refugee camps when talking about her desire to enter politics.
“In my last race, I talked about what my win would have meant for that eight-year-old girl in that refugee camp,” she said at a rally after her primary win. “And today, today, I still think about her and I think about the kind of hope and optimism all of those eight-year-olds around the country and around the world get from seeing your beautiful faces elect and believe in someone like me.” (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)
Christine Hallquist: When she secured her nomination for governor in her home state in Vermont, Christine Hallquist became the first openly transgender person on the ballot in the state. If she wins in November, Hallquist will become the first transgender governor in US history.
In August, Hallquist told The Guardian that her campaign was not as difficult as people may expect. “I tell people this isn’t the hardest thing I ever did,” she explained. “In fact, I think after transitioning everything else looks pretty easy.” (Photo by Hillary Swift/Getty Images)
Deb Haaland: In New Mexico’s primaries last June, Deb Haaland’s landslide victory excited many. In winning by more than 15 points, Haaland became the first Indigenous woman poised to take a seat in the House.
Although Haaland doesn’t want people to focus on her heritage, she does hope more women get involved in politics. “The best way for young women to get started is just by volunteering,” Haaland told us in August. “That’s what I did. I started as a phone banker, now I’m running for Congress. I think that more young women should get involved in campaigns, volunteer for campaigns — not just political campaigns, but maybe issue campaigns, things that they truly believe in.” (Photo by Mark Ralston/Getty Images)
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures