Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations says federal regulations stifling job growth

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 3, 2011 — The nation’s leading small-business organization, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), today launched a new campaign targeting the increasing number of regulations handed down by the Obama administration that are hampering small business’ ability to create jobs and economic growth.  The multi-year effort aims to give voice to America’s small businesses, which create two-thirds of the net new jobs in the U.S. each year. Former U.S. Senator and Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations chairwoman Blanche Lincoln joined NFIB President Dan Danner to announce the coalition in Washington.

“Small businesses have long carried a disproportionate share of the federal regulatory burden,” Sen. Lincoln said. “While some regulation is essential, there are more than 4,200 new environmental, financial, labor and other regulations pending at the federal level today, which are causing uncertainty and ultimately harming small businesses and their ability to create jobs. This is simply unsustainable in our struggling economy.”  Senator Lincoln spent 16 years representing Arkansas in Congress, where she consistently promoted small business interests, making her an ideal spokeswoman for NFIB’s effort to promote sensible regulations.

According to a report conducted for the Small Business Administration’s office of advocacy last year, government regulations currently cost the U.S. economy $1.75 trillion a year, or more than 12 percent of our national GDP.  In the last five years, there has been a 60 percent increase in pending federal regulations that are defined as “major” or “economically significant” – costing the economy $100 million or more.

“In NFIB’s history, few issues have been more important to America’s small businesses than bringing balance to the federal regulatory process,” NFIB President Dan Danner added. “Complying with federal regulations is incredibly costly to small businesses – the average business pays over $10,000 dollars per employee to stay in line with government rules.”

Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations seeks to ensure that the administration includes independent analysis of the long-term impacts of federal regulations on jobs, economic growth, and other indirect costs like retaining American industries in the federal regulatory process moving forward.

More than 150 businesses and organizations in six states – Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia – have joined the coalition to date.

Over the next several months, the coalition will work to bring personal stories of those facing economic hardships as a result of regulations to the national spotlight.  The campaign will also release economic and other analysis in several states to expose the heavy regulatory burdens suffered by small business owners.

For more information on the new project, visit the Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations website here: www.sensibleregulations.org

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NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB’s powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system. NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses. More information is available online at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.