Despite an expanding economy, many smaller businesses across the country are feeling a pinch owing to new federal energy regulations, according to testimony just heard by the House Committee on Small Business.
Speaking to that body, Steve Martinez, president of the Boise, Idaho-based Tradewinds General Contracting, remarked: “I can tell you that because we are talking about energy codes, because we are talking about building codes, when we get a whole new set of codes, it’s a 600- to 800-page document.”
Martinez asserted that he and his workers are compelled to peruse such documents “oftentimes in our trucks as we’re trying to figure out the code changes.”
Regarding those energy code changes and a handful of other new federal regulations, Texas Republican Roger Williams, chairman of the Small Business Committee, remarked: “Every hour dedicated to reading and understanding the new regulations could have been used to discover new growth opportunities.”
Continued Williams: “And worst of all, when a business owner fears expensive new mandates could be on the horizon, they hold on hiring that extra employee or buying that new piece of equipment.”
Committee testimony also included comments from Hazel Davis, vice president and compliance manager with the Jefferson Bank of San Antonio, who said federal compliance costs in the banking industry have become generally burdensome.
“Regulatory burdens, such as small business data collection initiatives, have the potential to erode trust and increase origination costs, reducing the availability of capital,” Davis said.
“Every dollar takes away from an investment in the community, either through a loan or through direct capital investments,” continued Davis, who was speaking for the Texas Bankers Association.
Despite the remarks critical of a wider regulatory reach, California Democrat Judy Chu said the country has seen a “remarkable surge in small business creation since 2020, reversing decades of decline.”
“It’s become clear that this isn’t just an anomaly due to the pandemic, it is a trend that is continuing even today,” she continued.
A recent record increase in small businesses, added Chu, is particularly important because “many who have been historically underrepresented in the business community, including women and minority business owners, are the ones who disproportionately powered this small business boom.”
The comments were delivered as part of the committee’s Main Street Realities hearings, billed as focusing on the “current economic landscape in America.”
By Garry Boulard
