Congressman Mike Ross wants to cut red tape

For generations, America has been the place in the world to start your own business. Our free enterprise system has created some of the world’s most successful companies. This history of success and support has made America the super power it is today.

As a former small business owner myself, I know that opening and operating a small business is no easy task. You face all kinds of challenges, risks and obstacles. So, the last thing our job creators need right now are more obstacles thrown down from the federal government in the form of over-regulation.

While we absolutely need commonsense regulations to protect workers, families and the environment, we must pursue a balanced approach. Too much regulation will continue to force American companies to foreign countries, taking much-needed jobs with them.

According to the Small Business Administration, since 2005, there has been a 60 percent increase in the number of federal regulations that cost our economy more than $100 million. The same agency reports that compliance with federal environmental regulations costs small firms 364 percent more than large firms. This type of over-regulation on our job creators needs to stop.

Recently, I’ve sponsored a number of bills that require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revisit some of its most overly burdensome restrictions and reformulate them in a way that makes sense and doesn’t cost us jobs. Among the bills, two are the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, H.R. 2250, and the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, H.R. 2681.

I believe we absolutely must protect the environment, but we must also be realistic about our current abilities and technologies. These bills represent a commonsense, practical approach to regulation that balances environmental protection with job creation and economic development.

I also believe we need to cut the red tape and start looking for more free-market solutions to increase private-sector job growth. On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, calling on every federal agency to review their regulations to ensure they “promote predictability and reduce uncertainty,” “take into account benefits and costs,” and “identify and use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends.” However, independent agencies are not subjected to the executive order, and to date, only one has voluntarily implemented the requirement. So, that’s why I have also been working with my colleagues in the fiscally conservative Democratic, Blue Dog Coalition to urge the nation’s 12 major independent federal agencies to comply with the President’s Executive Order and complete and publish a full review of all of their regulations.

As portions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, which I voted against, take effect, many more financial regulations are being placed on businesses and community banks. So, I have urged the Treasury Department to address its overly burdensome financial regulations that slow job growth and fail to improve consumer protections. Finally, I am also part of an effort to urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to eliminate unnecessary paperwork that is overly burdensome to home health care providers and consumers.

The balance between federal regulation and job creation is a very fine line and we must respect the free market and the American principle of independence that have long defined who we are as a country. As your Congressman, I will keep doing everything I can to find commonsense solutions that support our small businesses, create more private-sector jobs and get our economy back on track.