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WASHINGTON – Today members of the small business community told Congress that President Obama’s executive orders are preventing small businesses from competing for federal contracts, raising costs for the taxpayers while killing jobs and economic growth. Today’s joint hearing of two subcommittees of the House Small Business Committee comes as House Republicans are offering a policy agenda to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses as part of A Better Way to Grow our Economy.
"In meeting after meeting with my constituents back home in Nevada, and listening to small business after small business testify here before our subcommittee, I have come to the conclusion that Washington regulators, and particularly those appointed in the Obama Administration, do not understand how much their actions affect the day-to-day operations of small firm," said Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-NV, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations.
“The bipartisan work we have done here in the Small Business Committee is in stark contrast to what President Obama has done during his time in office,” said Rep. Richard Hanna, R-NY, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce in his written statement. “Since 2009, the President has issued 15 Executive Orders and presidential memoranda that specifically relate to government contracting. While these mandates may be well-intentioned, too often the costs significantly outweigh the benefits.”
Small Engineering, Defense and Construction Companies Bearing the Brunt
“The engineering industry, which suffered significantly during the recent recession, is finally coming back to fiscal health,” testified James Hoffman, the President of Summer Consultants, Inc., who spoke on behalf of the American Council of Engineering Companies. “Unfortunately, these and other regulatory actions could put that recovery at risk and create disincentives for engineering firms of all sizes to participate in the federal market.”
“Several of the recent executive orders have, through flawed processes, installed burdensome, unnecessary, inefficient, and in many cases duplicative and overlapping regulatory regimes that have the cumulative effect of dramatically increasing the cost of doing businesses with the federal government,” said Donna Huneycutt, the co-owner of Wittenberg Weiner Consulting, LLC. “Over time, these will decrease efficiency and economy in federal procurement, while undermining small business growth and development, and limiting the federal government’s access to innovative products and services to fulfill their needs, in direct contradiction of ongoing initiatives.”
“Given the overall state of the construction economy today, several small business contractors have expressed to AGC that they are strongly considering or plan to walk away from the federal construction market,” noted Jimmy Christianson, who testified on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America “The result of these new requirements may, therefore, include reduced competition and, in turn, higher prices to the federal government and taxpayers.”
You can view full video of today's hearing here and read full testimony here.
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