Earlier this month Politico hosted an event in connection with Small Businesses for Sensible Regulation and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. This is something that would have normally flown under my radar. I am glad I did hear about it though since the event touched on some important issues and it got me thinking.
The event revolved around the state of the economy and specifically the struggles that small businesses are facing in the current economic climate. The general message that small business owners were putting forward with the event was that with the financial downturn that the nation has faced coupled with ever increasing regulations small businesses are being stifled and put upon with undue burdens. Struggle and hardship is a part of all our lives and something that we must all overcome. Striving for and obtaining the "American Dream" isn't supposed to be easy. It takes hard work, determination, and a little luck to get there. This is especially true when you decide to forge your own path and start a business. But while the path is a difficult one it should not be made tougher, or even impossible, by the politically oriented calls politicians make in Washington.
Small businesses are the life blood of our society and help to provide the much needed foundation that local and national economies need. But when you look at and listen to the concerns of small business owners you can see that they are being placed in a stranglehold of over regulation. A recent Gallup Poll found that new regulations are the most important problem facing small businesses today.
Since 2005, the number of regulations costing the economy more than $100 million has increased by 60 percent. With over 4,000 new regulations pending at the federal level, this trend may not have an end in sight. This type of outlook causes uncertainty for the future of small business owners. While a number of the existing and proposed regulations seem to make sense for larger corporations we tend not to understand their affect on the small business owner. Over regulation has created an unduly negative impact on small businesses. Smaller firms pay 37 percent more in compliance than their larger counterparts. This imbalance goes against the need and desire to get Americans back to work and stimulate the economy.
The problems being faced by small business owners is nothing new and falls outside of economic and political lines. As we are all aware of by now bipartisanship has almost taken our government’s ability to get any work done to a standstill. Those who blindly fall into line with political talking points and call for increased or no regulation at all are missing the point and only hurting our economy further. Recent calls to increase taxes on certain industries or the calls to blame and disband the EPA are both equally ridiculous. These knee jerk reactions to our current situation and events that occur only slow down or halt efforts to recharge our work force and industries. The only way to push forward and stimulate our economy is to go a route not so often taken in D.C., the route of common sense. And this is the route that these small business owners are asking the government to take.
Small business owners are not asking that all current regulations be done away with and future ones be stopped. In fact what the vast majority of small business owners are asking for our reforms that have already been put forward by executive orders and other guidelines on the books today. What they ask for is that the existing regulations be reviewed and future ones thought all the way through. They are then asking to have the regulations applied evenly and fairly to all areas and industries.
During the Politico and Small Businesses event a set of principles for sensible regulation was put forth by former Senator Blanche Lincoln. When looked at and thought about the principles seem to be basic and make sense. Basically the principles put forth by Sen. Lincoln and the business owners breakdown like this:
1) Small businesses deserve a greater voice in the federal regulatory process 2) Assistance should be provided to small businesses before assessing penalties 3) Subjecting every major regulation to a rigorous benefit-cost analysis; 4) Regulations should be based on objective data and hard science, and 5) The regulatory process should require more transparency and accountability.
For a more detailed and in depth explanation of the proposed principals you can read through it here.
This seems to be a logical process of evaluation and enactment of policies to me. Politicians should work to help small businesses succeed and we as a people should hold them accountable for their actions. We need to help build up not tear down our small businesses and the communities they support. We need to work to make sure that the playing field is level and that we all receive a fair shake. By reviewing the current state of the regulatory process we can help to accomplish this. This is not a call for the government to assist and ensure all businesses make it and are successful. That would go against the tenants of obtaining the "American Dream" in the same manner as over regulating does. All we need to make sure of is that we do not hurt the little guy in our efforts to reign in the big ones. Because as we have seen recently the quiet little guys can become very loud when they need to be!