President Trump Promises to Rollback Regulation
President Trump released his proposed budget yesterday. The proposed budget would pay for an increase in defense spending by making cuts across other federal government agencies. The proposed budget also lays out how President Trump will rollback regulation.
There is a place for efficient and effective regulation. However, many well-intentioned regulations have unintended consequences. For example, healthcare providers have been buried under paperwork from the ACA. Doctors must dedicate substantial resources to compliance. Instead, a physician’s time would likely be better spent providing medical care to patients. Some regulations make sense. Companies should not be allowed to dump excessive waste into the environment. Pollution can impose large costs on the rest of the economy. Every regulation should be evaluated on a cost-benefit basis.
Throughout its history, AIER has highlighted the risk of excessive regulation. Many regulations inhibit business growth and employment. Small businesses are hit especially hard by regulations. Small businesses generally do not have large compliance departments. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) produces a report on small business trends each month. The NFIB report shows that small businesses have listed regulations as one of their top concern in recent years. In February of 2017, 17.7 percent of small businesses listed regulation as their biggest problem. The other top concerns were taxes and the quality of labor.
Soon after taking office, President Trump issued orders to rollback regulation. President froze new regulations for 60 days. Looking ahead, Trump also required federal government agencies to eliminate 2 regulations for every 1 they implement. Further, new regulations must not add administrative costs. President Trump also created the Regulatory Reform Task Force to ensure regulations are being reduced.
With the prospect of lower regulations, and an improving economy, small business optimism has soared. Following the election of Trump, small business optimism jumped to the highest level since the early 2000s. Optimism about the economy has led to more small business owners to consider expanding. If Trump can succeed in rolling back regulation and cutting taxes, it will likely help the bottom line for small businesses across the country.
