There’s something to the old Woody Allen quote that says, “80% of success is showing up.” If you want something done In Washington, D.C. or Trenton, that number is likely closer to 100%.

A big part of showing up for New Jersey’s family-owned businesses comes in the form of the Congressional Family Business Caucus, which is now back in order. House members, Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), are the new co-chairs of the bipartisan Caucus.

After a strong March meeting, we are now set now for the second meeting on June 9 on Capitol Hill. The March meeting focused on “Affordability Strategies for Family-Owned Businesses,” while the June meeting’s theme is: “Fuel for Growth: Capital Solutions for Family Businesses.”

One lesson we’ve learned over the years advocating for family businesses and one that New Jersey CPAs who serve family businesses as clients should know is you simply must “show up.” You need to be on The Hill and you must walk the halls of Congress to get your message heard.

But showing up is not so easy. In the most recent Family Enterprise USA (FEUSA) Annual Family-Owned Business Survey, it was found a shocking 74% of family business leaders “have not” met their Congress member.  

When we walk the halls of Congress with family businesses after our Caucus meetings, we find House members and their staffers are more than willing to meet with us and are happy to listen to us. Many have no idea how powerful family businesses are in their districts, how many employees they have or how they contribute substantially to their local community.

We’re on The Hill daily and we’re talking with House and Senate members, gauging their interests and explaining our family-owned business challenges. Many members of Congress are new, and their staff is young. It’s about constant education. Just showing up, being the squeaky wheel, makes a huge difference.

Priority Shift to Healthcare and Wealth Taxes

Priorities change, but now they’re changing so dramatically, and so fast, it’s getting hard to track. As our newest research findings are being tallied from our 2026 Annual Family-Owned Business Survey, we’re noticing some profound shifts. For example, last year the survey had the “usual suspects” of economic concerns: reduce the national debt (32%), reduce income taxes (23%) and reduce regulations (16%). This year’s survey, conducted among 710 respondents in the first quarter of 2026, wiped those concerns away.

Now, family business owners say their top economic policy priority is healthcare, with a whopping 51% saying this was their top concern. Last year, healthcare didn’t rank at all.

The fear of new “wealth taxes” ranked number two for economic concerns, with 22.5% saying this was their top worry. Last year, it only concerned 6% of family businesses.

The top worry last year, the national debt, came in a lowly third place this year, with only 13% saying this concerned them. That’s a big drop from 32% last year.