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Fighting Washington: National Small Business Week

June 26, 2012

Fighting Washington: National Small Business Week

Wanted to make sure you knew it is National Small Business week. This provides a great earned media opportunity to highlight how Washington’s burdensome regulations are hampering small business job growth.

All best,
Nat

EARNED MEDIA IDEAS:

  • Host a small business roundtable to discuss how local small businesses are getting squeezed by Washington’s failed economic policies.
  • If you are running against an incumbent, write a letter to them with a small businessman/woman outlining the top three regulations that are hurting their business.
  • Invite the press to participate in your “7 small businesses in 7 days” tour.
  • Host a tele-town hall with the Chamber of Commerce or a local small business owner to discuss your frustration with Washington’s red-tape.
  • Submit a joint op-ed with a local small business owner.
  • Book local radio and TV interviews to talk about how we need to end burdensome regulations in Washington.
  • Make sure to send out photos of the events/outreach through social networking.

EXAMPLES OF REGULATIONS THAT ARE HAMPERING SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH:

  • Latest ObamaCare Rules On “Grandfathered” Health Care Plans Will Make It Harder For Small Business To Keep Offering Health Insurance For Workers: “Unfortunately, the restrictiveness of these regulations removes the already limited choices small businesses have to try to keep up with the ever-increasing cost of plans. The Administration is essentially making it harder for small firms to continue offering healthcare, much less keep what they’ve got. Currently, when small business owners are faced with premium increases they are forced to evaluate their budget and their employees’ needs to determine how they can best adapt to this increased cost. These decisions are difficult, and are even harder in this economic environment. When an increase comes, employers often discuss their options and possible changes with their employees. Sometimes they choose to make a modest adjustment, for example, increasing a deductible from $30 to $45 – the Administration now deems that a ‘drastic change’ and would result in a small employer losing their grandfathered status.” (“Grandfathered Health Plans Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” NFIB, Accessed 5/21/2012)
    • NFIB STUDY: 250K Jobs Could Be Destroyed By ObamaCare’s Health Insurance Tax, And 150k Of Those Could Be From Small Business: (“NFIB Research Foundation Study: Health Insurance Tax to Cost 125,000 to 249,000 Private-Sector Jobs,”NFIB, 11/9/2011)
  • EPA Greenhouse Gas Rule Could Cost Small Businesses Thousands Of Dollars A Year With Long Wait Times To Get Exemptions: “The EPA has used the Clean Air Act (CAA) to regulate greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Because the CAA requires the EPA to enforce at such low emissions thresholds, the rules would have applied to some 6 million facilities nationwide. To make it practicable, the EPA exempted small facilities – which the CAA does not allow. Therefore, the small business protections provided in this rule could be thrown out by a court at any time. Adding to the uncertainty, the exemption will be reviewed periodically by the EPA and could be lowered to cover smaller facilities. If covered, small businesses will have to get permits costing thousands of dollars with wait times estimated at over a year.” (“Regulations Affecting Small Business,” NFIB, Accessed 5/21/2012)
  • U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service May List Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, Halting Energy-Fueled Economic Boom In West Texas/New Mexico: “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering adding the dunes sagebrush lizard, a tiny reptile indigenous to west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, to the endangered species list. Doing so would threaten the prosperous oil and gas industries – and agriculture – in that region, as well as small businesses that benefit from the booming economy there. That’s because listing the lizard as endangered would trigger an avalanche of new restrictions and permits that would halt energy production and make farming more difficult.” (“Regulatory Newsletter,” NFIB, January 2012)
  • NRLB Rammed Through “Quickie” Union Elections Rule: “The ‘quickie elections’ rule would dramatically cut short an employer’s opportunity to learn of and respond to union organizing by reducing the election timeframe from the current median of 38 days to as few as half that. The shortened timeframe puts employers at a severe disadvantage since unions can prepare their entire unionization campaign in secret. An accelerated election will not give employers adequate time to educate employees and prepare for an election. This means that employees will not have full information about the pros and cons of unionization.” (“Regulatory Newsletter,” NFIB, January 2012)

POLLING:

  • GALLUP: 46% Of Small Businesses Cite Government Regulations As An Obstacle To New Hiring: (Dennis Jacobe, "Health Costs, Gov’t Regulations Curb Small Business Hiring,"Gallup, 2/15/2012)
  • GALLUP: 48% Of Small Businesses Cite Rising Healthcare Costs As A Barrier To New Hiring: (Dennis Jacobe, "Health Costs, Gov’t Regulations Curb Small Business Hiring," Gallup, 2/15/2012)
  • 73% Of Job Creators Cite ObamaCare As An “Obstacle To Hiring New Workers”: (Peter Schroeder, “Survey: Uncertainty, Gas Prices Slowing Hiring by Small Business,” The Hill, 4/16/2012)