FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LANSING, MI (June 8, 2023) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the state and nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, testified today before the Michigan House Committee on Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation in opposition to SB 14, a bill to repeal a prohibition on state agencies promulgating rules stricter than those at the federal level without providing a rationale for such action.
NFIB State Director Amanda Fisher appeared before the committee as the House began to take up the Senate bill, which passed the upper chamber on a party-line vote on May 17th.
“The Legislature passed the existing compromise law in 2018, and NFIB worked with the sponsor and other stakeholders at that time to achieve a solution that provided flexibility to address Michigan-specific issues that may need more nuanced regulations,” said Fisher. “Under this existing law, the extra steps that need to be taken by Michigan departments are not prohibitive but work to ensure that new regulations have been thoroughly vetted.”
Fisher pointed to a U.S. Chamber cost study indicating that federal regulations alone on small businesses (firms that employ fewer than 50 people) averaged $12,000 per employee in 2017 – up from $10,585 in 2010. The amount per employee continues to increase as more state-specific regulations are added.
“Small business recognizes the need for some regulations. Unfortunately, they are often duplicative, nonsensical, expensive, and overburdensome without achieving desired outcomes,” continued Fisher. “Senate Bill 14 takes power from the people’s elected representatives, the Legislature, and gives it to unelected bureaucrats with no transparency or accountability to the citizens they are supposed to be serving.”
Alternatively, Fisher urged adoption of SJR C, a joint resolution to change the Michigan Constitution to require all administrative rules to be approved by the Michigan Legislature. “Public policy should be overseen by elected officials, not made by a ‘shadow legislature’ in windowless government offices,” concluded Fisher.
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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
