The Hill News

Lawmakers have been spooning extra helpings of anti-regulatory rhetoric onto the small business plate for months, blaming government rules for the lack of small business growth and the nation’s ongoing economic problems. While legislators are right to view small business as the key to economic recovery, the record must be set straight: small businesses simply don’t view regulations as the culprit.

The Small Business Majority released research on Sept. 20 indicating that a mere 13 percent of small business owners believe government regulations are what burden their business most. Economic uncertainty about the future was the biggest issue for small business owners at 46 percent, while 43 percent said the rising costs of doing business, including the cost of fuel, electricity, heating and cooling, was their top concern.

While a broad array of factors influence economic uncertainty, it’s simply not logical to label regulations as the No. 1 proble! m. Do regulations need to be closely monitored? Of course. Do they cause some small businesses headaches? Sure. But claiming that regulations are the primary cause of stagnant small business growth is misguided. Our opinion poll found 86 percent of small businesses believe the federal government does not understand how small businesses really work, and the regulation uproar perfectly illustrates that point. Another example is a bill named the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011, which was introduced last month to reform the regulatory process. Its authors claim small businesses have stopped hiring because of regulations, but, really, they’re just playing politics. 

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