Small businesses have been a vehicle for economic expansion and innovation for a long time now. As time passes, however, the success of small businesses is being undermined by “a combination of complex regulations and spiraling regulatory compliance costs,” according to a release from the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Regulations, Health Care and Trade.

The Subcommittee met this past Wednesday to examine the need for reforms to aid small businesses and jump start a slowing economy.

Small businesses are a critical component of the U.S. economy, yet they face regulatory compliance costs that soar 45 percent higher than those of large corporations. Tax regulations are costing small firms much more, giving large firms a disproportionate advantage. In addition, time-consuming paperwork is impeding on their ability to compete. The odds are stacked against small firms, and they haven’t caught much of a break in recent years.

Several months ago the Committee took a giant leap forward, however, introducing the Small Business Regulatory Improvement Act (H.R. 4458), “the most comprehensive reform effort in a decade to provide new tools for the nation’s 26 million entrepreneurs to navigate the regulatory process.” The bill would amend the Regulatory Flexibility Act to require federal agencies to provide more analysis of the economic impact of regulations on small businesses. It would also require more detailed periodic reviews of regulations.

Though I appreciate the willingness of the federal government to spend the projected $100 million analyzing and reviewing problematic regulations, perhaps it might be a wiser investment to simply refrain from implementing such regulations in the first place—just a suggestion.

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