“The cost of regulatory burdens from new regulations this year alone has cost $67.4 billion. These regulations are made outside the scrutiny of Congress and land on the shoulders of our struggling businesses. Today, small businesses spend $10,500 per employee to comply with federal regulations, hampering their ability to expand and create jobs. At a time when unemployment in some areas of southwest Ohio is in the double digits, we should be helping job creators, not burdening them with additional regulations,” said Turner.
A recent Gallup poll among owners of small businesses found that complying with government regulations is the most important problem facing them today. Regulations are a hidden form of taxation, and just as our tax code is in need of reform, so is our regulatory system. Unless Congress acts, this unchecked growth of regulations will continue without effective oversight.
“The Constitution requires that Congress pass laws and be a voice for the American people. The enactment of overly burdensome regulations by Executive branch agencies circumvents that process,” added Turner.
A recent study commissioned by the Small Business Administration found that annual regulatory compliance costs in the United States hit $1.75 trillion in 2008. That figure exceeds the total collected from income taxes that year ($1.449 trillion). Of the 4,225 regulations now in the pipeline, 224 are major rules with at least $100 million in economic impact.
If those pending major regulations cost only $100 million, many of which cost much more, it implies at least an additional $22 billion in annual economic impact in the wings. For example, an Environmental Protection Agency regulation on CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) Standards alone could cost as much as $141 billion in compliance by 2025.