BY OLYMPIA MEOLA

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, is promoting his proposal for a 20 percent tax cut for small businesses in a new TV ad running in his district.

The 30-second spot released by his campaign operation features a half dozen local businesspeople talking about Cantor’s plan, which is slated to come before the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote mid-April, around Tax Day.

Under the proposal, businesses with fewer than 500 employees would qualify for a 20 percent tax deduction. A deduction for any taxable year could not exceed 50 percent of certain wages.

During a recent committee meeting on the bill, which would represent about a $46 billion cut, Rep. Sander “Sandy” Levin, D-Michigan, called the plan “expensive and inefficient.”

Cantor’s ad opens with Mark Oley of Westwood Pharmacy saying most new jobs are created by small business followed by Suzanne Wolstenholme of Homemades by Suzanne remarking that “some in Washington want to raise taxes on small businesses.”

Paul Dorn of Colonial Paint & Body, Patrick Walsh of American Print and Mail, Doug Elliott of Enzo’s Italian Chophouse and Ken Newsome of AMF Bakery Systems also make appearances in the spot, which is expected to run for the next two to three weeks throughout Cantor’s district.