Friday, September 09, 2005

If it's bad for small business then why isn't it bad for everyone?

Oregon Increases Protections For Small Business
Oregon's small businesses may experience a friendlier regulatory environment, thanks to a new law that gives Oregon small businesses a voice in the state's regulatory process.

Specifically, the new law enhances Oregon's administrative procedure laws by including a requirement that state agencies analyze the economic impact of a proposed regulation on small business before they regulate. It also requires state agencies to conduct a review of existing rules every five years to ensure the rule has had its intended effect and that there is a continued need for a rule. The addition of HB 3238 to Oregon's existing regulatory flexibility laws completes a good regulatory framework for small businesses in that state.

"This bill enacts a long-sought reform: that when state agencies make a rule, they should consider its impact on small businesses," said House Speaker Karen Minnis.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great idea and I'm glad that this bill was passed. But I'm wondering, if everyone recognizes that excess regulation is a problem then why not just eliminate excess regulation?

Why does government create asinine laws only to pass more laws to negate the affects of the previous laws? If they have to spend so much time fixing problems that they create maybe they should take a step back and ask themselves how they can avoid creating the problems in the first place.

This article has quotes from Kulongoski, Minnis, and Thatcherexaltxhalt this new bill as the savior of small business from the burden of regulation. That's great but what about the rest of us? What about homeowners? What about large business? What about builders?

If we recognize that over-regulation causes a problem for small business then the next step is to realize that it causes a problem for everyone.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmmm... could it be because "big" business is the "enemy" of the "corporate greed" liberals?

Daniel said...

Ah yes, "big" tobacco is heavily regualted, "big" oil is heavily regulated, and "big" microsoft gets sued by the government for being too successful.

Maybe they are encouraging small businesses to stay small...