Regulation Nation
“And finally, today I am directing federal agencies to do more to account for—and reduce—the burdens regulations may place on small businesses. Small firms drive growth and create most new jobs in this country. We need to make sure nothing stands in their way.”
—President Obama, Wall Street Journal op-ed, January 18, 2011
Last week the National Federation of Independent Business, a nonprofit, nonpartisan small business association representing small and independent businesses in all 50 states, launched a new initiative: Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations. According to the program’s website, the effort is “focused on protecting small businesses and American jobs from the impacts of regulations recently proposed by the Obama administration.” They will undoubtedly have no shortage of regulatory perils from which to protect America’s job creators as President Obama’s regulatory barrage continues. Here are some (not so much) fun facts from the coalition’s website:
- According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, compliance with federal environmental regulations costs small firms 364 percent more than large firms.
- On a per employee basis, it costs small firms with less than 20 employees, $2,830 more than those with 500 or more employees to comply with government regulations.
- Of the 4,226 regulations in the works, the government has identified that 845 affect small business, an 11.5 percent increase over 2009.
- Since 2005, there has been a 60 percent increase in pending federal regulations that are defined as “major” or “economically significant” – costing the economy $100 million or more. There were 224 “economically significant” rules issued last year, an increase of 22 percent over 2009. This represents the highest number recorded since the government kept count.
- Since 1976, the number of pages of environmental regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations has increased 25 fold, from around 1,000 pages to 25,000 pages.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has more than 330 regulations under consideration today impacting everything from farm and construction dust to CO2 emissions from schools and hospitals.
- By 2014, heightened EPA regulations will cost the nation between 476,000 to 1,400,000 jobs and $47 billion to $141 billion in GDP, according to the American Council for Capital Formation.
What are House Republicans doing?
House Republicans are in their districts this month discussing the House GOP plan for job creation with the American people. This plan includes commitments such as passing the three pending free trade agreements to open new markets for American made goods and reforming the inefficient tax code to restore American competitiveness and attract businesses.
For additional information, contact:
The House Republican Conference Policy Office
