Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) May 23 wrote to the administrator of the Small Business Administration to express concerns regarding proposals for Social Security tax-funded individual investment accounts. Kerry and Harkin's letter raises a litany of concerns with President Bush's proposal for payroll tax-funded accounts, including concerns that his or similar proposals "would place new requirements or costs on small businesses."

The letter to Hector V. Barreto, head of the SBA, requests "detailed information on the administrative, regulatory, and cost requirements that private accounts will entail."

"We believe that private accounts would place unnecessary burdens on small businesses," Kerry and Harkin wrote.