07/18/2007
Regulatory costs reached $1.14 trillion last year—$10 billion more than the previous year—according to the recently released "Ten Thousand Commandments," an annual study of the federal regulatory state released by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
NFIB has consistently fought to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses, as they are hit harder with costs disproportionately higher than big business. And there is disparity even among small businesses: On average, businesses with fewer than 20 employees spend 50 percent more on regulatory compliance than businesses with more than 20 employees.
For businesses operating on a shoestring budget, these costs can be crippling.
"The cost of regulation for small businesses has risen nearly 10 percent [in five years], to $7,647, per employee, per year," said Andrew Langer, NFIB senior manager for regulatory affairs. For one of NFIB's average members, a business with five employees, that adds up to almost $40,000 per year.
NFIB will continue to attack the regulatory-cost problem on three fronts:
- Stopping bad, intrusive and overburdensome regulations before they are issued
- Working to fundamentally change or get rid of regulations that are already on the books and are bad, intrusive or otherwise overburdensome
- Finding ways to make it easier for businesses to comply with the thousands of regulations that are currently on the books
Americans spent 8.2 billion hours filling out paperwork last year—at a cost of about $400 billion. As NFIB works with lawmakers to ease this regulatory burden on small business, you can help by sharing your stories about how a specific regulation has affected your business. Contact NFIB's Grassroots Department, and NFIB will share your story with lawmakers so they are aware of the difficulties small-business owners face when trying to balance running their companies with complying with overwhelming regulations at the same time.
