05/14/2008
CONTACT: Renee Baker, 225-298-1225 or Todd Pack, 615-872-5897
Remarks came at NFIB/Louisiana's Small Business Day at the Capitol
BATON ROUGE, La. -- House Speaker Jim Tucker and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret told small business owners today it is too hard for many people to conduct business in the state.
"We're hearing from our constituents that the regulatory process needs to be updated. That's something we're seriously going to take a look at," Tucker said at the NFIB Small Business Day at the Capitol, held at the Louisiana State Museum, at 644 N. Fourth St. in Baton Rouge.
"NFIB is going to have a seat at the table," Moret told the nearly 60 small business owners who attended the NFIB event. "Big corporations have whole departments to deal with regulations, but with a small business, it's coming out of your hide. We need to make it easier for people to do business in the state of Louisiana."
Regulatory reform and flexibility is one of the National Federation of Independent Business' top priorities this Legislative session, said Renee Baker, state director of NFIB/Louisiana. In particular, NFIB, the state's leading small business association, is calling for legislation requiring state agencies to report the cost of new rules and regulations before enacting them.
"Running a small business isn't easy," Baker said. "Our members are small, family-owned businesses. It simply isn't fair for agencies to pass new regulations without first thinking of the likely financial toll on small businesses.
"Small business is too important to the state's economy for policymakers to ignore it," Baker said.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small business creates most of the nation's net new jobs. In Louisiana, small business accounts for about 98 percent of the state's employer firms and 55 percent of the non-farm private workforce.
Small business owners from across the state attended NFIB's first Small Business Day at the Capitol in Louisiana since 2006. Baker said it will become an annual event.
"Legislators and other policymakers have to understand that small business is the backbone of the state's economy," Baker said. "Small businesses face issues that big companies don't. NFIB is the voice of small business in Louisiana, and Small Business Day gives our members a chance to let their voices be heard."
Unlike members of some other groups, small business owners can't easily leave work to visit the Legislature throughout the session, Baker said. "Sometimes, you'll see people from different groups in committee meetings, but these people aren't small business owners. When you're a small business owner with three or four employees, you can't afford to have one-third or one-quarter of your workforce visit the Capitol every time an important bill comes up for a vote."
In separate speeches, Tucker and Moret told small business owners that Louisiana can't afford to place regulatory roadblocks in the path of small business. Other speakers included Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelson, State Treasurer John Kennedy and Labor Secretary Tim Barfield. Small business owners also met with their legislators to discuss issues such as workers' compensation reform and health insurance mandates.
"Only 47 percent of small businesses can afford to offer health benefits to their employees and their families," Baker said. "But instead of looking for ways to make healthcare more affordable and widely available, some lawmakers are trying to pass mandates that are going to make health insurance more expensive.
"We understand that the mandates may be well intentioned, but if you make health plans more expensive, you'll see more businesses go without," Baker said. "It's easy to say something should be covered. It's harder to come up with the money to pay for it."
