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STATEMENT

of the

Honorable Nydia Velazquez, Ranking Member

House Committee on Small Business

Retrospective Review: Have Existing Regulatory Burdens on Small Businesses Been Reduced?

May 8, 2013

Thank you, Mr. Chairman for holding this important hearing.  Our government’s regulatory structure profoundly influences the American economy.  Certainly, without many regulations, the public interest would be harmed.  These rules make our water safe to drink, ensure our air is safe to breathe, protect workers from unnecessary risks and protect consumers from unsafe products.  

Regulations also help our markets operate fairly.  Without them, small businesses and entrepreneurs would often find their efforts to introduce new products and services stymied by large, entrenched companies who fear competition and seek to game the system.

While regulation has a role to play, the challenge is ensuring these rules remain relevant and are carefully targeted to avoid unintended consequences.  In that regard, retrospective reviews are critically important in achieving that careful balance.

This process helps those of us in Congress – as well as the agencies –develop smarter, more effective regulations and to modify or eliminate rules whose purposes have been outlived.    A number of mechanisms exist for evaluating these regulations.  The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires an examination of all regulations that have a significant economic impact on small entities.  Other agencies, like EPA, are required under the Clean Air and Water Acts to periodically review their own regulations. 

President Obama has reaffirmed these principles by issuing Executive Order 13563, which calls for a government-wide review of regulations.  Already, this undertaking has yielded a number of new ideas some of which I expect we’ll hear about today.  I know the Department of Agriculture is reducing information collection burdens on industry, while also updating its lending processes.   The Small Business Administration is also working to streamline its capital access application procedures.  If done correctly, simplifying these rules would get more capital flowing to small firms at a time when our economy could use this boost.  The Department of Transportation is working on 83 initiatives that would save the department effort, taxpayers’ money and reduce inefficiencies for industry. 

I’m pleased to see these agencies are taking the president’s executive order seriously.  Part of this hearing’s purpose will be to get a better grasp on how small firms might be affected by some of these changes – and what more can be done to further alleviate regulatory burden.   

Balancing regulatory costs against benefits is always a difficult challenge, but I am encouraged by initiatives we’ve seen thus far.  These steps are a genuine effort to get it right and I look forward to discussing what more can be done in that regard.   I want to thank the witnesses for their participation and yield back the balance of my time.

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