Check out the entire article here.

(Source:  The Hill, “Regs czar nominee vows to slash onerous rules”, Ben Goad)

Senator Blanche Lincoln Reacts to Shelanski Confirmation Hearing
Former U.S. Senator and Chair of NFIB’s Small Business for Sensible Regulations Says White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Nominee has “Perfect Opportunity to Address the Concerns of Small Businesses”

WASHINGTON – Former U.S. Senator and Chair of the National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business for Sensible Regulations Coalition, Blanche Lincoln released the following statement today regarding the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs confirmation hearing of Howard Shelanski:

“Small businesses will be looking to hear from Howard Shelanski that he understands how to balance the important role many regulations play, with the uncertainty they create and costs they impose on job creators. Far too many regulations continue to be hastily implemented before thorough consideration is given to all available science and data, public input, and the direct and indirect impacts they will have on businesses.  Small businesses want reassurance from Mr. Shelanski that he will not heed calls to speed up a regulatory process that too often fails to find the right balance (or answers) because it neglects asking the right questions. Today’s hearing is a perfect opportunity to address the concerns of small businesses by ushering in an era of common sense reforms to make the creation of regulations more transparent, accountable and less harmful to our economy.”

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The Feds:  Everybody out of the pool!
The Detroit News Blog, NFIB Michigan Director Charles Owens, 6/5/13

NFIB Michigan State Director, Charles Owens, in the Detroit News this week examined how small businesses in the recreation and hospitality industries are trying to figure out how to pay for a new mandates involving swimming pools and spas that took effect this year. According to Owens, a small water park or a motel with two pools will be forced to fork out $20,000 for two permanent lifts when one temporary lift would have achieved the same goal.  Owens calls for reforms giving federal bureaucrats less discretion to impose rules that can kill honest businesses.

Small Businesses Still Feeling Pinch
Wheeling News-Register, 6/11/13

An editorial in the Wheeling News-Register noted that twelve percent of small businesses surveyed for NFIB’s monthly optimism index reduced headcount in May. The Register noted that small business owners already on the ropes, battling government regulation and skepticism about the truth of any economic recovery, have not felt the relief that Wall Streeters addicted to the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies have been enjoying.

How America Lost Its Way
Wall Street Journal Opinion Editorial, By Niall Ferguson, 6/7/13

A powerful Opinion Editorial from Niall Ferguson explored the related rise in red tape to the difficulty of doing business in America, particularly for small business owners.  Ferguson notes, “Who benefits from the growth of complex and cumbersome regulation? The answer is: lawyers, not forgetting lobbyists and compliance departments. For complexity is not the friend of the little man. It is the friend of the deep pocket. It is the friend of cronyism.”

Despite claims from President Obama that his administration believes in a “light touch when it comes to regulations”, recent polls and economic indicators suggest that small business owners disagree.  The National Federation of Independent Businesses small business optimism index released on Monday,  listed respondents citing “regulations and red tape” as one of their top three business problems.  Small business owners’ inability to plan due to regulatory uncertainty is having a paralytic effect on hiring and growth potential.

Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations coalition members frequently share with us their stories of the impact of increasingly burdensome federal regulations.  One commonly raised concern  is higher costs of regulatory compliance for small businesses compared to those of larger businesses.

Ty Baker-Baumann, owner of Rebsco, Inc. in Greenville, Ohio, explained her story of keeping up with regulatory compliance costs:

“In my community – small business, large business – I don’t know any of my customers who don’t want to be compliant, who don’t want to provide proper safety gear for their employees, who don’t want to train their people to be safe and train their people to be safe and work effectively. And yet, you’re constantly feeling like no matter what you do, it will never be good enough because the target is always moving.”

According to the federal Small Business Administration, small businesses bear a regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee, which is 36% higher than the cost of regulatory compliance for large businesses.  Large businesses often have compliance staff and outside counsel to help them navigate new regulations, while for small businesses, the owner is often running the business while also handling necessary state and federal tax and regulatory paperwork.  Polls show that businesses are keeping any extra revenue on the sidelines for fear of new mandates and resulting compliance costs.  In addition to more public comment and greater transparency in the process, sensible regulatory reform at the federal level should include greater compliance assistance for small businesses and waiving fines or penalties for initial minor errors on regulatory paperwork.

NFIB’s Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations coalition remains focused on making sensible regulatory reforms a reality to protect small businesses and American jobs from the economic and other impacts of overly burdensome regulations.

]]> http://www.sensibleregulations.org/2013/06/video-ohio-small-business-joins-coalition-members-speaking-out-for-regulatory-reform/feed/ 0 http://www.sensibleregulations.org/2013/06/nfib-supports-senator-tom-coburn-r-ok-amendment-to-the-agriculture-reform-food-and-jobs-act-of-2013-s-954/ http://www.sensibleregulations.org/2013/06/nfib-supports-senator-tom-coburn-r-ok-amendment-to-the-agriculture-reform-food-and-jobs-act-of-2013-s-954/#comments Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:46:20 +0000 admin http://www.sensibleregulations.org/?p=4864 Continue reading →]]> The NFIB expressed strong support on Monday for an amendment from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that helps American farmers and ranchers by expanding important regulatory impact analyses and outreach requirements to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This proposed Amendment to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (S.954), would ensure that when the USDA creates rules and regulations, they fully consider the economic impact that those rules and regulations would impose on our nation’s almost 30 million small farms.  According to SBA research, small businesses bear a disproportionate burden, paying almost 45 percent more per employee in annual regulatory compliance than larger firms.

NFIB Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Susan Eckerly wrote, “Our farming members continually tell us about the difficulty and expense of complying with ever-increasing federal regulation. In fact, in our most recent Small Business Problems and Priorities, unreasonable government regulations ranked third out of 75 issues important to small businesses in the agriculture industry.”

NFIB and the Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations coalition encourage you to contact your U.S. Senator, and urge support for this important amendment to rein in unnecessarily burdensome regulations on the American agriculture community.

Washington Post Op-Ed:  Federal regulation jumps the tracks
Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations, 6/3/13

An Opinion Editorial over the weekend in the Washington Post drew attention to a costly and frequently criticized federal regulation that is harming commercial and industrial rail industries.  George Will’s column points out that the cost of regulations ($1.806 trillion) is now more than half the size of the federal budget and 11.6 percent of GDP.  Regulatory compliance costs exceed the combined sum of income taxes paid by corporations ($237 billion) and individuals ($1.165 trillion).

New Study:  Federal Regulations Waste $46 Billion Annually
Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations, 5/31/13

An Opinion Editorial over the weekend in the Washington Post drew attention to a costly and frequently criticized federal regulation that is harming commercial and industrial rail industries.  George Will’s column points out that the cost of regulations ($1.806 trillion) is now more than half the size of the federal budget and 11.6 percent of GDP.  Regulatory compliance costs exceed the combined sum of income taxes paid by corporations ($237 billion) and individuals ($1.165 trillion).

Increase Jobs by Reducing Regulations
Money News Opinion Editorial, By Neal Asbury, 5/30/13

An Opinion Editorial in Money News recently took a look at the correlation between bureaucratic red tape and job creation: “When companies must spend money to comply with an ever-increasing flood of federal regulations, they need to make cuts in other areas. This usually means holding off on job creation or even cutting their existing work force and employee hours.”

Unfortunately, too often regulators generating rules fail to estimate the long-term costs and benefits of regulations.  Full transparency and disclosure of data, methods, and models underlying federal regulatory decision-making are critical steps to restoring trust to the federal regulatory process.

As the growth of federal regulations continues to soar, the minimum we should be doing is implementing sensible reforms that are directly evident.  The President has urged federal agencies to modify and streamline ineffective regulations, but with over 600 million hours of regulatory duplication, it is clear agencies can do much more.  The time to act is now.

Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations coalition is an effort focused on protecting small businesses and American jobs from the impacts of overly burdensome regulations and bringing about sensible reforms.

Washington Post Opinion Editorial:  The Rise of the 4th Branch of Government
Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations, 5/28/13, By Jonathan Turley

This weekend’s Washington Post editorial by Jonathan Turley at George Washington University linked recent corruption scandals in the headlines to larger questions of government accountability.  The author took a specific look at the affects and potential consequences of regulatory accountability, noting that “it’s often impossible to know, absent a major scandal, whom to blame for rules that are abusive or nonsensical….while public participation in the promulgation of new regulations is allowed, and often required, the process is generally perfunctory and dismissive.”

The cost of regulations:  Economic tyranny
Pittsburgh Tribune Editorial, 5/27/13

On Monday, the Pittsburgh Tribune published an editorial discussing the expansion of new federal requirements while also advocating for sensible reforms to improve the regulatory process.  “Regulating rather than legislating pays for programs with private-sector resources rather than tax dollars…Genuine transparency, rigorous cost-benefit analyses, no more agency self-auditing, less delegation of power to bureaucrats and congressional votes on new rules could end regulations’ prodigious proliferation.”

Fox Business Network hosts Director of GWU Regulatory Studies Center
Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations, 5/24/13

Fox Business Network recently hosted a special program on government regulations featuring Susan Dudley, Director of the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center.  During the interview, Dudley noted, “President Obama has been regulating more, his record, he’s about 21 percent more than any of his three previous (administrations)”

Over the weekend, the Washington Post published an Opinion Editorial from George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley who sought to answer that question, outlining the massive expansion of the federal bureaucracy including the consequences on accountability related too regulations.  Turley noted, “One study found that in 2007, Congress enacted 138 public laws, while federal agencies finalized 2,926 rules, including 61 major regulations.  This rulemaking comes with little accountability. It’s often impossible to know, absent a major scandal, whom to blame for rules that are abusive or nonsensical.”

Given the events in the news past few weeks, it is clear that the federal government and the regulatory process it follows demands greater transparency and accountability.  While regulations play an important role in society, today there are 4,063 new rules in the pipeline with more than 800 of those directly impacting small businesses.  The administration must seek and appropriately consider the input of businesses, particularly from those businesses who will be responsible for implementing costly new federal mandates.  As Turley accurately notes, “while public participation in the promulgation of new regulations is allowed, and often required, the process is generally perfunctory and dismissive.”

NFIB and Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations coalition is committed to advocating for full disclosure of data, methods, and models underlying federal regulatory decision-making.  We urge the White House to attach the highest priority to reining in the federal regulatory process and realigning the fourth branch rightfully under the executive.

Join us and tell your story about why the regulatory process is in need of reform.