Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, it is interesting for me to hear my colleagues across the aisle as an owner of an air-conditioning company that dealt with not just air-conditioning but convenience stores that had walk-in coolers, furnaces, and air-conditioners. I get that they speak from inexperience. I will give them that. What they don't realize is that when something like this is mandated, first of all, those businesses usually operate on a very, very thin margin. It could be 1.5 to 2, maybe sometimes almost 3 percent profit, which I know from experience. When something like this has to be done, even a small walk-in cooler--let's just pick some figures. Let's say it costs $5,000 to $6,000, but the plumbing, electrical, carpentry, permits, and everything costs $10,000 to $12,000. Now, they have a choice. They are either going to pass that on to their consumers in higher food prices, or they are going to continue to pay an extra $10 or $20 a month in electricity. That is what is going to happen that they don't realize, that what they are wanting to do is mandate that businesses have to increase their expenses at the expense of the consumers because they are the ones that are going to pay for that. I have watched this for a long time. I realize that they speak from inexperience. I will leave it at that, Mr. Speaker, for the time being, and I reserve the balance of my time.”