Crapo, Risch seeking to reduce regulation on
job creators
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June 18, 2011 |
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rob Portman
(R-Ohio), with Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas),
Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming),
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and
Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), introduced a bill
June 14 to reduce excessive unfunded government
mandates on job creators, giving them greater
freedom to invest in their companies and hire
new workers.
“At a time when American employers are
struggling to expand and grow jobs, the federal
government should not be imposing unnecessary
costs on the private sector,” said Portman.
“With 9.1 percent unemployment, we should be
pursuing policies that make it easier, not
harder to hire. This legislation will help job
creators compete globally rather than be held
back by stifling government mandates.”
The new legislation would strengthen the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), for
which Portman was a lead co-sponsor in the 104th
Congress. UMRA was a bipartisan effort to
prevent Congress and federal regulators from
blindly imposing major economic burdens on the
private sector and on state, local and tribal
governments without weighing the costs and
benefits.
“While Washington continues to add thousands of
pages of regulations on the backs of America’s
job creators, Texas has managed to be a leader
when it comes to job creation because of its
job-friendly, common-sense regulatory system,”
said Sen. Cornyn. “I’m proud to cosponsor a bill
that helps Washington become more like Texas by
curbing government overreach to help clear a
path for economic growth across the country.”
“The small businesses are the creative engines
of job growth and the private sector is where
solid economic recovery begins. For far too
long, government regulations and mandates
indifferent to economic consequence have stifled
entrepreneurship, and this legislation helps
promote fuller decision-making and transparency
to see how government mandates affect job
creation,” said Sen. Crapo. “In addition to
needed improvements to our tax and financial
policies, regulatory reform will help promote
job creation and allow our business leaders to
be more competitive and dynamic in the
marketplace.”
“It is unfortunate that a majority of folks
running this country have never run a small
business so they don’t understand the harm some
rules and regulations can cause,” said Sen.
Enzi. “This bill will give small businesses a
better chance to succeed by forcing government
agencies to think twice and consider the real
world effects before passing down a regulation.”
“With our unemployment topping nine percent,
Washington needs to stop pushing more mandates
and costs onto the backs of our nation’s small
businesses and job creators,” said Sen. Hatch.
“More regulations and mandates is the wrong
prescription to jump starting our economy. This
legislation makes sense and gets Washington out
of the way so businesses can get back in the
business of hiring.”
“Government’s top priority should be the economy
and jobs, not creating new layers of
bureaucracy. This bill helps accomplish that by
ensuring regulations are limited and promote
free market-based solutions wherever possible,”
said Sen. Risch.
“I am supporting UMRA because limiting costly
and burdensome regulations will help our economy
grow, create jobs, and give small businesses the
flexibility they need to thrive,” Sen. Toomey
said. “In Pennsylvania, many job creators and
small businesses are struggling under the heavy
weight of unnecessary government mandates. This
legislation will offer much needed regulatory
relief by encouraging government agencies to
consider the negative and unintended
consequences of new regulations.”
Among other measures, the legislation would
require agencies to specifically assess the
potential effects of new regulation on job
creation or job loss; consider market-based and
non-government alternatives to regulation;
require agencies to choose the least burdensome
regulatory option that achieves the policy goal
set out by Congress; extend UMRA to independent
agencies; and permit courts to review an
agency’s economic impact analysis under UMRA.
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