Job Creators: Regulations Raise Business Costs, Which Harms Economic Growth
House Republicans are considering a measure today to order a comprehensive review of federal regulations. This effort follows the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s publication of nearly 2,000 pages of letters from job creators detailing how onerous regulations substantially increase the cost of doing business, which hurts economic growth.
One employer trade association explained the possible impact one particular regulation proposed by the Obama administration could have on the economy:
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS:
“The NAM’s overriding concern with the proposal [for EPA ground-level ozone regulations] is thatthe high compliance costs associated with the more stringent ozone standard will hinder manufacturers’ ability to add jobs and hurt our global competitiveness. One study estimated 60 ppb would result in the loss of 7.3 million jobs by 2020 and add $1.1 trillion in new regulatory costs per year between 2020 and 2030.” (Jay Timmons, National Association of Manufacturers, Letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, 1/7/2011)
Other groups explained the burdens that excessive regulations place on employers that lead to those employers spending more time and resources on complying with government regulations instead of growing their businesses and creating jobs:
NON-FERROUS FOUNDERS’ SOCIETY:
“Too often, the cost of government regulations places a disproportionate burden on small business, and that burden creates an even more significant impact on small manufacturers like non-ferrous foundries.”(James L. Mallory, Non-Ferrous Founders’ Society, Letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, 1/13/2011)
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES:
“Regulation affects small businesses in a substantially different way than it does large businesses…. For the small business owner, there is no regulatory compliance officer. This burden falls squarely on the owner, who, more times than not, is responsible for everything from ordering inventory and hiring employees, to taking out the trash at the end of the day…The compliance burdens presented by these rules are great because small business owners will need to spend significant time to understand these rules, make expenditures to expensive consultants to bring the facility up to compliance, and greatly increase the amount of time he or she spends on paperwork compliance.” (National Federation of Independent Businesses, Letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, Accessed 2/7/2010)
ASSOCIATION OF ELECTRICAL AND MEDICAL IMAGING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS:
“Of primary concern is the sheer volume of regulatory initiatives that may affect a particular industry or product sector and the lack of coordination in and among various federal agencies to mitigate the cumulative effect such regulations have on manufacturers…. The rate at which new regulations are developed and become effective causes numerous burdens for businesses, which often find themselves scrambling to understand the regulations, plan for compliance, educate their workforce, and meet complicated recordkeeping and reporting requirements.” (Kyle Pitsor, Association of Electrical and Medical Imaging Equipment Manufacturers, Letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, 1/19/2011)
Meanwhile, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called review of federal regulations “filler”—just a waste of time. How much longer will Pelosi and other House Democrats continue to ignore what American job creators are telling us about how to grow our economy?
“Instead of focusing on job creation, this congress is spending ten hours on the floor, a filler, as concrete evidence of the fact that they have nothing else to fill the time with, directing our committees to conduct oversights.” (Floor Remarks by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, 2/10/2011)