A Letter From Your NFIB/Iowa State Director

Date: May 20, 2015

Kristin Failor talks about anti-business proposals.

Dear members,

Iowa politics receive a lot of attention on the national stage, often overshadowing the issues that most directly impact the hardworking, taxpaying members of our state. Being better known as a breeding ground of presidential campaigns than as a model for state governance has its disadvantages, and small business recently saw just how misguided some lawmakers are when it comes to business growth and prosperity in Des Moines.

Increasing the cost to maintain a business in our state means less capital for entrepreneurs to invest in their people, their infrastructure and the expansion of their businesses. This particular session was chock-full of bills whose common theme was to spend small employers’ money for them, leaving them unable to make any fiscal decisions for themselves.

Many Iowans are wondering what some lawmakers were thinking when they proposed various bills that thankfully have not gained traction. Aggressively seeking the real reform many would like to experience is always the priority; however, as sad as it sounds, sometimes the greatest victory in the small business community is simply to maintain the status quo. This happens when energy and advocacy efforts must all be spent fighting off new, burdensome regulations.

Take the Senate’s wage payment collection bill that was defeated, as a prime example. Instead of lawmakers utilizing existing legislation already on the books to assist officials with the enforcement of avoiding employer wage theft, a bill was proposed that no doubt would have driven up the legal costs to small business due to its assumption of guilt, placing the burden of proof on employers and their attorneys.
     
After paying their lawyer bills, had the legislature had their way, small business owners would have then been forced to find the additional resources needed to pay their employees an increased minimum wage. Thankfully, good sense prevailed when those opposed to the increase were able to express the long-term consequences of such a mandate. As any small business owner will tell you, mandating an increased wage will result in their reluctance to hire additional employees.

Forcing employers to provide days off for political events, stricter regulation on everything from water filtration to alcohol testing policies and increasing fees paid by small businesses to process payment to employees were a few other issues that were the brainchild of lawmakers who are clearly completely tone deaf to the needs of the small business community.

Small business survived this policymaking session by fighting off the worst of some terrible bills. While it certainly could have ended poorly, what was truly lacking was the motivation by lawmakers to address the difficult decisions necessary to reform our economy and make Iowa an economic success story instead of simply an early stop on a long campaign trail.

Sincerely
Kristin Failor, 
NFIB/Iowa State Director 

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