Small Business to Congress: Regulations Hit Small Firms Harder

Date: April 14, 2016

Small Business Legal Center Head to Testify This Morning

For Immediate Release
Andrew Wimer, 202-314-2073 or 703-298-5938 (cell)
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Washington, DC (April 14, 2016) – The growing number and complexity of federal regulations is hitting small business owners especially hard. Karen Harned, Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, will testify about the “hidden tax” of red tape in front of the House Small Business Committee this morning on Capitol Hill.

“When it comes to regulations, small businesses bear a disproportionate amount of the regulatory burden,” Harned will testify. “This is not surprising, since it’s the small business owner, not one of a team of ‘compliance officers’ who is charged with understanding new regulations, filling out required paperwork, and ensuring the business is in compliance with new federal mandates.”

According to the latest NFIB Small Business Economic Trends survey, 21 percent of small business owners cited government regulations and red tape as their single most important problem. Harned will testify about the negative effects of the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to the overtime rule.

“DOL estimates it will take one hour for businesses to become familiar with the rule,” Harned will tell lawmakers. “But this assumption disregards a basic reality of regulatory compliance – it’s the small business owner that will be wading through the rule’s regulatory text, not compliance specialists like those working for large corporations.”

While Harned’s limited time for testimony allows her to go into detail on only a single regulation, her full written testimony includes other examples of rules that will cost small business owners time and money: the Occupation Safety and Health Administration’s silica rule, the DOL’s persuader rule, and the Environmental Protections Agency’s Waters of the U.S. and Clean Power Plan rules.

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