Nydia M. Velazquez: “Reducing the cost of regulation is a very important issue, but it's not going to turn the economy around. In order for…”

“Reducing the cost of regulation is a very important issue, but it's not going to turn the economy around. In order for this to happen, businesses need to see more customers coming through their doors--and not just during the holiday season we are now in. With this in mind, it is necessary to create an environment where regulations are not overburdening small businesses, as they do in fact bear the largest burden. {time} 1540 These entrepreneurs face an annual regulatory cost of $10,585 per employee, which is 36 percent higher than the regulatory cost facing large firms. And this brings us to the bill before us. Too often on the House floor legislation is painted as either being totally perfect or completely awful. With this bill, neither of these characterizations is appropriate. In fact, on many fronts, H.R. 527 contains several very positive provisions and will make a real difference for small businesses. Many of the provisions were previously advanced by Democrats in the Small Business Committee, and for this Chairman Graves and Chairman Smith and their staff should be commended. For instance, the bill makes agencies' regulatory flex analyses more detailed so that they cannot simply overlook their obligations to small businesses. It also gives real teeth to periodic regulatory look-backs, which require agencies to review outdated regulations that remain on the books.…”