Overregulation hurts small businesses, congressman says

Do government officials give proper consideration to how a regulation will affect small businesses?

That question is at the heart of the Prove It Act, a bill that aims to protect small businesses from government overreach and overregulation.

Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., introduced HR7198 in February with the goal of holding regulators in check.

“I’m a farmer and a small-business owner,” Finstad told Land Line Now. “I’ve seen firsthand and heard numerous stories of the negative effects of government overreach when it comes to overly protected regulations and the rulemaking process.”

Specifically, the Prove It Act requires federal agencies to analyze the impact of their regulatory action and limit these impacts for small entities by:

• Creating a way for small businesses to raise concerns when regulators do not consider both the direct and indirect costs their regulations place on them
• Allowing small businesses to ask their chief advocate in government to review agencies’ work and make the government prove they are fully compliant with already-existing laws
• Stipulating that if regulators fail to comply with this review process, small businesses will be exempt from the agency’s regulations altogether
• Ensuring small businesses can easily access preexisting guidance documents online and create a way for small businesses to directly raise questions or concerns with their regulators

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has expressed support for the Prove It Act.

“Not only are small businesses the backbone of America’s economy; they’re the backbone of America’s supply chain,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Over 70% of American freight is transported exclusively by truck, and 96% of trucking is made up of small business carriers. OOIDA and the 150,000 small-business truckers we represent support the bipartisan Prove It Act to keep government overreach and burdensome overregulation off of the backs of the men and women behind the wheel who keep our economy moving.”

In addition to OOIDA, supporters of the bill are the Job Creators Network, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Independent Community Bankers Association.

The number of regulations affecting small-business truckers can be overwhelming.

“It’s always changing,” said Finstad, who holds a commercial driver’s license. “Just when you think you’ve caught up to the new climate of the new regulations and rules to comply with, there’s another harebrained idea coming at us tomorrow. It’s just so hard to keep up, especially if you’re that small independent.” LL