SMALL BUSINESSES TESTIFIES IN SUPPORT OF RULES FOR THE RULE MAKERS
BOSTON (May 26, 2015): Today the National Federation of
Independent Business (NFIB), the state’s leading small business organization,
testified before the joint committee on State Administration and
Regulatory Oversight where both the Senate and House addressed a comprehensive
reform of Massachusetts’s regulatory processes in hopes of promoting economic
development.
“During the past two years, our small businesses have been
asked to deal with an unprecedented amount of new regulations, including those
affecting parental leave and sick leave, health insurance, union organizing,
anti-discrimination, background checks, even religious garb in the workplace.
The expansion of these regulations has no doubt led to a steep decline in
entrepreneurial activity,” according to Bill Vernon, NFIB Massachusetts State
Director. “With every new regulation, running a business becomes more
complicated and more expensive.”
Senate Bill No. 1737 and House Bill No. 2761, if passed,
will provide specific direction to state agencies on how to satisfy the
statutory requirement to assess the impact of a new regulation on the state’s
small business sector and on the economy in general. Several states have
adopted similar laws that spell out how agencies should gather information to
determine whether a new rule makes sense, in this case for the economic
well-being of the Commonwealth. They would also offer legislators additional
powers to review regulations that may change the impact of the laws the
legislature had previously enacted.
“We are slowly committing economic suicide by failing to
accurately assess and analyze the economic costs and benefits of new
regulations that are disproportionately impacting small businesses. The costs
of owning and operating a business in Massachusetts – much of them imposed
through regulation — have contributed significantly to the difficulties plaguing
our state’s economic engine and job producers,” Vernon concluded.
