Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations

This morning, the Wall Street Journal published, “Red Tape Record Breakers”, analyzing the record number of costly regulations promulgated during President Obama’s administration.  Listed below are a few of the more alarming statistics from the Editorial detailing the recent explosion in federal regulations:

• The Code of Federal Regulations hit an all-time high of 174,545 in 2012, an increase of more than 21 percent during the last decade

• Last year, 4,062 regulations were at various stages of implementation from Washington, D.C.

• A recent study from the Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates regulatory costs averaging $14,768 per household, meaning red tape is the second largest item in the typical family budget after housing

As small businesses across America struggle with high levels of unemployment, an increasingly tough economic environment, and burdensome paperwork requirements, the last thing they need is added regulatory uncertainty.  The NFIB and the Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations Coalition understands that small businesses are the engine of the U.S. economy, and continues to work to make sure America’s entrepreneurs concerns are heard in Washington and across the country.

READ THE FULL WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL

Yesterday afternoon, The Hill reported on a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) study confirming that under President Obama, federal regulations have soared. The story notes: “From 2009 through last year, there were more than 13,000 final rules published in the Federal Register, while fewer than 12,400 were finalized from 2005-2008, the report found. That’s an increase of nearly five percent.”

The CRS study showing a spike in regulations comes as the administration is already under harsh scrutiny from federal and state lawmakers as well as outside groups for the economic price tag of the President’s intrusive regulatory policies. A recent report from the Heritage Foundation cited the price tag of Obama’s first-term regulations at $70 billion. Another article in The Hill yesterday noted the administration has failed to release its legally required “Unified Agenda” revealing plans and anticipated deadlines for federal regulations, “Obama officials have missed the spring deadline for the second year in a row, stoking anxiety for businesses that want to know what mandates and rules are coming down the pike.”

At a time when small businesses are already facing high levels of unemployment and a tough economic environment, the last thing they need is additional regulatory uncertainty. The Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations Coalition is focused on protecting small businesses and American jobs from the impacts of overly burdensome and costly regulations proposed by the Obama administration.

Last week, The Heritage Foundation released “Red Tape Rising: Regulations in Obama’s First Term,” which analyzes the number and cost of regulations under President Obama.

The report notes that “annual regulatory costs increased by more than $23.5 billion during President Barack Obama’s fourth year in office—and by a total of nearly $70 billion during the first term.”

The sheer number, cost, and complexity of regulations from this administration are too much for small business owners. Time and time again, small business owners are diverting money away from their business operations to comply with regulations. Sometimes, small business owners are spending money on and complying with a regulation that they don’t even understand what problem it was intended to fix.

As this study and other recent studies point out, America is in great need of regulatory reform. Our regulatory system should include small business owners in the process from the beginning, be transparent, have cost-benefit analysis, and use science and objective data when assessing risks. Making these changes will ensure that America’s small business owners are able to invest and hire, which will help to strengthen America’s economy.

Yesterday, Susan Dudley, Director of the GW Regulatory Studies Center, and Sofie Miller, Policy Analyst at the GW Regulatory Studies Center, published an important piece in The Washington Examiner. This opinion editorial analyzed whether or not President Obama’s claims of reducing regulatory burden are in fact true.

Dudley and Miller note:

However, upcoming research from the George Washington Regulatory Studies Center suggests that it is doubtful whether the savings that agencies claim from these reforms will materialize at all.

Dudley and Miller found that the Tier 3 vehicle and fuel standard regulation, that was featured in the “look back” regulatory review, will in fact cost $3.4 billion per year. While the agency claims there will be less paperwork for businesses, the economic cost will have a largely negative affect on consumers and the economy.

Hopefully, President Obama understands that this isn’t the kind of “regulatory reform” that America was hoping for. True regulatory reform will include: transparency during the regulatory process, cost-benefit analysis, and risk assessment. If these reforms are enacted, then our small businesses will be able to invest and hire, and as a result, our economy will grow.

This morning, The Washington Post published “The high cost of zero,” which analyzes the number of regulations promulgated during President Obama’s administration and of those, the EPA regulations which are costly to the economy without any proven health benefits.

The opinion editorial notes, “The EPA’s actions are forcing us to expend vast financial, human and technological resources to achieve minimal, or even zero, quantifiable health benefits. We need science-based standards and common-sense regulations.”

It is of the utmost importance for President Obama’s administration to start taking action on reforming our regulatory system to ensure that there is a need for the regulations being created and that those regulations are a balance between protecting the environment and our health, while making sure that the economic costs aren’t so high that it shuts down small businesses.

One of the best ways for the administration to ensure these regulations are balanced would be make sure every regulation is going through cost-benefit analysis, so that every major regulation is analyzed so that the costs are fully understood, and the benefits are significant enough to justify the costs. If these reforms are implemented, small business owners will have less regulatory compliance costs and regulatory uncertainty and will be able to invest their money into their business rather than regulatory related activities.

Read The Full Washington Post Opinion Editorial