During testimony today before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, the executive director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center Karen Harned told members that unprecedented and overzealous regulations have stunted small business growth.
Small businesses currently bear a disproportionately high cost, compared with larger businesses, to comply with federal regulations. A 2010 Small Business Administration study shows small businesses pay 36 percent more to comply than their larger counterparts, at an average cost of $10,585 per employee.
“Small businesses create two-thirds of the net new jobs in this country yet bear a disproportionate amount of the regulatory burden,” said Harned. “The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act (SBREFA) and the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act can be valuable tools for agencies to identify flexible and less burdensome regulatory alternatives. In order for the
The NFIB Research Foundation’s Problems and Priorities survey, which establishes the relevant importance of small business concerns, has found unreasonable government regulations to be a top concern for small business owners. NFIB has made regulatory reform, and the passage of the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, a key policy objective.
