The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed its tax reform bill before adjourning for Thanksgiving recess, giving millions of small-business owners across the country much to be thankful for as the proposal heads to the Senate.

The current tax code hasn’t been substantially updated in over 30 years, and American small businesses have paid the price. At the present marginal top rate of 39.6 percent, the highest among the world’s developed nations, the U.S. Main Street business tax rate is a barrier to economic growth and job creation. While larger corporations can move their businesses to other, lower-taxed countries around the world and sell their goods back to consumers in the U.S., small businesses can’t afford to do that and are having trouble competing with multinational companies.

This is the real problem. The tax code doesn’t allow for competitive small businesses to rival major corporations. Larger corporations can tap into funds, bring on more investors or take out loans to pay high taxes. Also, many larger corporations have the means to hire tax attorneys, who find loopholes to enable their clients to avoid paying taxes at all. Whatever the top tax rate is, they won’t pay it. But small businesses don’t have this luxury and many get bled dry and close up shop because of overtaxation. It’s this simple: To allow small businesses to flourish, they need an equal playing field.

I am the founder of two small businesses in Maine. I also serve as the state representative for Maine’s 12th District. I personally know how difficult it can be to operate a small business under the strains of the current tax code, and I see many of my constituents suffer the same overtaxation problems that I do. Enough is enough of this inequality driven by the tax code.

Maine is home to over 144,000 small businesses, which employ over half of the private workforce in the state. Tax savings would directly benefit Maine by allowing small-business owners to reinvest. A recent study by the Job Creators Network determined that small-business owners would use their tax cut savings to hire more employees, expand their operations and increase employees’ wages. As a small-business owner myself, I couldn’t agree more with this statement. Cutting taxes is not about lining the pockets of business owners with more money, as critics contend. It is about giving these vital players in the economy a little more room to help their customers, employees and communities, and allowing them to be more competitive with big corporations.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act put forth by congressional Republicans finally puts America’s small businesses first and substantially lowers the small-business tax rate. For Main Street businesses, this bill creates a new 25 percent tax rate. Those businesses that don’t earn enough to take advantage of that rate would benefit from lower tax brackets, an increased standard deduction and – particularly – a new 9 percent tax rate on their first $75,000 of earnings. Our Congress should be laser-focused on this business tax reform, which will be meaningful and important, and work in a bipartisan manner, resisting the urge to add other controversial and non-business-related elements, which will cause distraction and delay or prevent passage.

Predicted by the Tax Foundation to create nearly 4,000 new jobs for our state and increase median household income by almost $2,000, this plan is a huge cost savings for Maine’s small businesses and will finally allow them to compete with larger corporations, which have had an unfair advantage for too long.

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. We need a tax code that encourages investment back into entrepreneurialism and less into the hands of big government. It’s time for Congress to take up tax reform that will end overtaxation and allow Maine’s small businesses to succeed. This reform should be both business-friendly and deficit-friendly. Small businesses and Mainers should support and be thankful for Congress’ efforts to reform the business tax code and pass tax cuts now.