Representing the Third District of
Missouri has given me the opportunity to meet with businesses across our region
on a daily basis. Whether it is a lawn care service near the Lake of the
Ozarks, a defense contractor in St. Charles, or a restaurant owner in High
Ridge, every business I have met with during my tenure in Congress has had one
thing in common: concern over burdensome regulations from the federal
government.
As the Vice Chairman of the Small Business
Committee and small business owner myself, it is not lost on me that
regulations disproportionately affect small business. Large corporations have
the benefit of compliance experts, lawyers, HR teams, and money to help them
comply with the rules coming out of Washington. However, small business owners
often wear multiple hats and must become a regulatory expert while trying to
grow their business. When small business owners are spending more time trying
to satisfy the countless demands of government than growing their business,
their workers, the local community, and the US economy will ultimately suffer.
Fortunately, the tide of overregulation
has begun to turn. The Federal Register, which holds all existing federal
regulations, was an astounding 95,984 pages long at the end of 2016, the last
year of the Obama Administration. This is the highest total ever and an
increase of 15,000 pages over the year before. However, in one year under
President Trump, the regulatory regime has been severely downsized and the
federal register cut to 61,960 pages, the lowest count since 1993.
This deregulation has greatly increased
small business confidence in the economy and has small business owners invested
in growing. This sentiment has been reflected in numerous surveys across the
country which show that small businesses have more confidence in the economy
than they did just a year ago and anticipate economic expansion in the next
year. For example, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB)
conducts a monthly optimism index of small businesses, and in January the
rating was one of the strongest in the 45-year history of NFIB Surveys.
The importance of small businesses to the
U.S. economy cannot be understated. Nearly two thirds of all new hires and 48
percent of all private sector employees come from small business. I can tell
you first hand that when I now meet with small business owners I hear a
completely different tone, one of optimism and excitement for what the future
holds. As your representative in Congress, I look forward to meeting more small
business workers and owners throughout Missouri and will continue our efforts
to curb the regulatory overreach from Washington.
CONTACT US: As always, for
those of you with Internet access, I encourage you to visit my official website. For those without access to the
Internet, I encourage you to call my offices in Jefferson City (573-635-7232)
Washington, Mo. (636-239-2276), or Wentzville (636-327-7055) with your
questions and concerns. If you want even greater access to what I am working
on, please visit my YouTube site, Facebook page, and keep
up-to-date with Twitter and Instagram.