Statement of IO&R Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette Clarke before Subcommittee hearing entitled: "Regulating the Regulators: Reducing Burdens on Small Business"

Statement

of the

Honorable Yvette Clarke, Ranking Member

House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations

“Regulating the Regulators: Reducing Burdens on Small Business”

March 14, 2013

Thank you Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding today’s important hearing. Our nation’s regulatory structure is absolutely vital in protecting the public.  The fact is, without regulations our air would be less pure, our water unsafe to drink, and employees would potentially be subject to unsafe and hazardous working conditions.That said, most evidence points to a disproportional impact on small businesses with regards to regulatory compliance.  Our small businesses and entrepreneurs simply do not have the economies of scale to mitigate the costs that large corporations do in this regard.

With that in mind, Congress passed the Regulatory Flexibility Act to ensure that the concerns of small firms were taken into account during the regulatory process.  Past concerns regarding agencies’ failure to initiate a regulatory flexibility analysis of a pending rule makes monitoring performance in this area critical. Agencies have certified that a proposed rule would not have a significant impact on small business, when the exact opposite becomes evident after-the-fact.  In some cases, analysis by the agencies has been lacking altogether thus limiting the effectiveness of the law and shortchanging America’s entrepreneurs. 

For this Act to maintain its legitimacy, it is vital that its processes and requirements be used appropriately to make regulations more targeted, efficient and effective.  For small businesses, regulation can be a two-sided coin.  While no entrepreneur wants to pay more or comply with unnecessary rules, effective regulation can prevent unfair practices that would benefit large companies at the expense of our small business community, causing harm to the public interest. 

In that regard, our goal should not be the short-sighted removal of all regulations, but rather make the process smarter, fairer and one that protects the public good while minimizing the impact on our nation’s small businesses. 

Again, I thank the Chairman and I yield back.  

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