Thousands of small, family-run retailers like ours face enough of a challenge with Washington’s self-inflicted trade war, which is is raising costs and generating uncertainty. At the very least, Congress could help ease the burden by fixing an apparently small error in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that is having a very large impact on our ability to grow and invest, create jobs, and lift up our communities.

The details are complex, but the error means that investments in stores, restaurants, and other facilities can now only be depreciated for tax purposes over 39 years, instead of the immediate write-off Congress intended. This error, which Congress alone can and must fix, is hindering millions of dollars of critical investment for small, family-run businesses like mine all across the country. What’s become known as the “retail glitch” is hurting not only retailers and restaurants, but hotels, office building owners, construction firms, building suppliers, and even firefighters.