07/30/2008
CONTACT: Stephanie Cathcart, 202-314-2056
Texas small business owner urges Congress to reform onerous federal regulations
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. House Small Business Subcommittee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade held a hearing today on Regulatory Burdens on Small Firms: What Rules Need Reform. Pete Van De Putte, a small business owner from San Antonio, Texas, and a National Federation of Independent Business member since 1980, testified at the hearing to give the committee a first-hand account of the difficulties small business owners face with unreasonable government regulation.
Van De Putte owns Dixie Flag Manufacturing, which celebrated its 50th year in business this year. The business, started by his parents and grandmother in the bedroom of his family home, has grown to employ more than 40 people. Van De Putte is a former NFIB board member and a founding member of the NFIB Texas Leadership Council. His testimony focused on reducing regulatory burdens on small business, specifically paperwork reduction and the standard home office deduction.
"Being a small business owner means, more times than not, you are responsible for everything, including ordering inventory, hiring employees and dealing with the mandates imposed by federal, state and local governments. That's why government regulations, and the paperwork they generate, should be as simple as possible," said Van De Putte in testimony.
Regulatory costs per employee are highest for small firms, which is why dealing with unreasonable government regulations" has been a top 10 issue for the past eight years, according to NFIB's "Problems and Priorities" survey.
"Government regulation and paperwork is complicated and time consuming, and takes away from time a small business owner can be working to grow his business and hire new employees. What's worse is the smallest firms face the most difficult burden," said Brad Close, director of federal public policy at NFIB. "We are happy the committee can hear from a small business owner like Van De Putte as they evaluate and work to reform outdated and ineffective federal regulations."
