Frankly Speaking: Get Government Out of the Way

You’d never know it from watching the evening news, but dozens of meetings are held on Capitol Hill almost every day. TV cameras only show up for high-profile sessions, such as a showdown between Congress and the White House over a controversial executive appointment. They rarely turn out for less glamorous meetings that don’t make banner headlines. That’s a shame, because those meetings are where serious, nitty-gritty discussions are held and where the groundwork for important decisions often begins. I attended one such meeting last week, and I want you to know about it.

I have the honor of serving on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Its name may sound highfalutin, but the work it does is very important.

During last fall’s campaign, House Republicans released “A Pledge to America” that contained this commitment: “Rein in the red tape factory in Washington D.C. and require Congress to approve any new regulation that would harm job creation or the economy.” As part of the new Republican majority in the House, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is ready to deliver on that pledge.

Last Thursday, we held a hearing on “Regulatory Impediments to Job Creation.” In everyday English, that means “Getting government out of the way and freeing small businesses to grow and expand.” For two hours, we heard about federal road blocks placed by bureaucrats. We learned how serious this problem is, and how badly it is harming our economy. Here’s what I found out.

A September 2010 report from the Small Business Administration found total regulatory costs amount to $1.75 trillion annually. That’s nearly twice as much as all individual income taxes collected last year. And guess who shoulders an unfairly large part of that cost? Small businesses – the engine that drives our economy.

The average cost burden on U.S. firms is approximately $161,000. That’s more money than they contribute to the payroll tax for Social Security and Medicaid. Small firms (20 workers or less) pay $10,585 per employee, compared to big companies (500 or more workers), who only pay $7,755 per employee.

What does this mean? We’re hurting the very companies that have the potential to create the new jobs we need. Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms and have created 64 percent of all new jobs in recent years.

And guess who suffers? Those regulatory costs are either passed on to you, through higher prices, or to workers, who get lower wages. Just imagine what small businesses could do with the $10,585 per worker that is lost on regulatory expenses. Imagine how many new jobs could be created, the better wages workers could receive, and the stronger communities we would have based on well-paying jobs. That would generate a stronger revenue source for financially-troubled city and state governments, and would producer greater stability for everyone.

It’s time we get serious about this problem, and identify and remove onerous, job-destroying regulations. Thursday’s Committee hearing was the first step in doing something about it. The next step was action.

The next day, the House passed a resolution directing the committees to inventory and review federal agency rules and regulations that may unfairly harm the ability to create jobs and grow the economy. The goal, as explained in “A Pledge to America,” is to enhance transparency and economic stability, with no major rule proposed by the Administration should be enforced without congressional approval. (A “major rule” is a rule that would have an annual effect on the economy of at least $100 million or that would create a significant increase in costs or prices.)

The fight to restore responsibility and fiscal sanity to Washington, to get government off our backs and out of our pockets, won’t be won in a single big battle. But it is winnable, and it will be won in a lengthy series of small victories, like this one, stretching over many months.

I look forward to reporting back to you in two weeks. In the meantime, if I can be of service to you, or if you want to share your thoughts, suggestions or concerns with me, please call either my district office in Manchester at (603) 641-9536 or my Washington office at (202) 225-5456, or contract me through my website at www.Guinta.House.Gov. Until next time, please know that I am always on your side and actively fighting for New Hampshire’s interests in Washington.