[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 26, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REGULATORY BURDEN FACING SMALL BUSINESS

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                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 26, 1996

  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud supporter of the Small 
Business Growth and Administrative Act, now retitled the Small Business 
Regulatory Simplification and Enforcement Act. This bill, as contained 
in the Contract With America Advancement Act, will:
  First, require agencies to publish easily understood guides to assist 
small businesses in complying with regulations;
  Second, require agencies to provide informal, nonbinding advice, 
about regulatory compliance to small business;
  Third, create a Small Business Administration [SBA] small business 
and agriculture enforcement ombudsman to allow citizens to 
confidentially comment on SBA personnel;
  Fourth, create independent boards to provide a greater opportunity to 
track small business regulatory enforcement and policy; and
  Fifth, require agencies to develop programs to waive and reduce civil 
penalties for violations by small businesses.
  I might note, Mr. Speaker, that these provisions unanimously passed 
the Senate by a 100-to-0 vote on March 19.
  I am attaching an article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune last 
week about Perry Moy, who lives in the district I am privileged to 
represent and owns a Chinese family restaurant. This article explains 
the effect of regulations on small business. Regulators in the 
executive branch should heed his insights, and I urge a similar 
resounding vote of confidence in small business by my colleagues in the 
House.

               [From the Chicago Tribune, Mar. 18, 1996]

        Restaurateur Awaits Relief From ``Wasteful'' Regulations

                           (By Wilma Randle)

       McHenry County Restaurant owner Perry Moy spends his days 
     doing a lot more than running his eatery. He also has to 
     handle a lot of paperwork, much of it dealing with various 
     governmental regulations.
       Moy is the owner of the Plum Grove Restaurant, family-owned 
     eatery in McHenry. And, he says the paperwork he has to deal 
     with is something he really could do without.
       Moy also served as a delegate at last year's White House 
     Conference on Small Business where the issue of government 
     regulations was a major concern for small business owners.
       Thus, Moy is among the nation's small business operators 
     who are watching with interest a bill currently being debated 
     in Congress that would relieve small business owners of much 
     of what they say is the burden of governmental regulations.
       The ``Small Business Growth and Administrative 
     Accountability Act'' would require federal agencies to 
     periodically review regulations to determine whether they 
     need changing, according to a recent notice distributed by 
     the National Federation of Independent Business, a 
     Washington-based association representing more than 500,000 
     small business owners around the country.
       The NFIB contends government regulations force employers to 
     waste billions of hours each year filing paperwork as well as 
     billions in costs related to complying with different 
     regulations. ``That time and money could be better used and 
     spent expanding businesses and creating jobs,'' said Jack 
     Faris, NFIB president.
       Paperwork isn't costing Moy billions of work hours, but he 
     says when you run a small business, any time that isn't 
     devoted to running the business is time you really can't 
     afford to waste.
       ``The amount of paperwork I have to deal with--just in my 
     business--is immense,'' he said. ``I have to deal with 
     everything from employee taxes to the health and liquor 
     regulatory agencies. And it's not just federal agencies. 
     There are all these state and local regulations too.''
       So, he said, ``Whatever changes can be made to relieve the 
     paperwork and regulatory burden on small business I would 
     welcome. It's truly one of the drawbacks about running a 
     small business.''

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