NFIB Urges Supreme Court to Stop Congress from Delegating Regulatory Power to Special Interests

Date: December 08, 2014

www.NFIB.com
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Eric Reller
202-314-2073 or [email protected]


NFIB Urges
Supreme Court to Stop Congress from Delegating Regulatory Power to Special
Interests


WASHINGTON, D.C., December 8,
2014 — Karen Harned, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center,
made the following statement in response to the Supreme
Court hearing oral arguments in Department of
Transportation vs. Association of American Railroads,
in which NFIB has filed an amicus brief.

“Everyone loses when crony capitalism is codified into law –
particularly small businesses. NFIB believes that the Constitution prevents
Congress from giving a private entity the authority to regulate other
businesses. Amtrak, created by an act of Congress but run as a for-profit
corporation, operates on tracks owned almost entirely by freight railroad
companies – but has been granted authority by Congress to regulate those
railroad tracks.

“Amtrak requires their trains be given preference on rail
lines, junctions, or crossings – handing out penalties for disruptions and using
this power to its own competitive advantage over other freight railroads. We are
specifically concerned that if the Supreme Court blesses this regulatory scheme
– it will open the floodgates for Congress to give other government-favored
businesses—likely those with the greatest political clout—regulatory authority
that could  be used to disadvantage small
business competitors.”

In this case, the Supreme Court will
decide whether the Constitution permits Congress to task private entities (Amtrak)
with setting regulatory standards for an industry (the rail industry). NFIB argues that placing regulatory power directly in
private hands raises a particularly acute risk that special interests could be
favored at the expense of public needs. NFIB
believes that private entities must be
limited to an advisory or subordinate role in the regulatory process.

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The
NFIB Small Business
Legal Center
 is a 501(c)(3)
organization created to protect the rights of America’s small business owners
by providing advisory material on legal issues and by ensuring that the voice
of small business is heard in the nation’s courts. The National Federation of
Independent Business is the nation’s leading small business association, with
offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals

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