Fond du Lac Reporter - House Works to Ease Regulatory Burden

Op-Ed

By Tom Petri

Regulations come from all levels of government in many shapes and sizes. And, not all regulation is bad.

For instance, I'm sure we're all glad to have regulation of our roads and highways so that I can drive on one side of the road going into town and someone leaving town can drive on the opposite side of the road. Auto safety regulation has also played a big part in dramatically reducing traffic deaths.

But we've reached a point where the overall cost-benefit ratio of regulations -- especially at the federal level -- is unprecedented and daunting.

I've long heard from businesses about the burden of government regulations. Now, a recent study from the Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates that the cost of federal regulations alone in the United States ismore than $1.8 trillion annually, which comes out to roughly 11.6 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

The American Action Forum, headed by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, estimates that the paperwork burden represents 10.38 billion hours of work for businesses in 2013--an increase of 157.9 million hours from 2012. This breaks down to approximately $7,755 per employee for large businesses and a whopping $10,585 per employee for small businesses.

Let me say that again. The cost of federal regulations in the U.S. is $1.8 trillion annually representing over 10 billion hours of paperwork.

The figures put forward in these reports are nothing short of astounding. Some may argue that there are simply more businesses in our economy today which adds to the total cost and hours worked. There may be some truth to that, but look at the Code of Federal Regulations, which now stands at 174,545 pages total. To put it in perspective, the Code contained 22,877 pages in 1960 and War and Peace (one of the longest works of fiction ever written) contains 1,440 pages.

That should be a cause for concern for both political parties. Businesses must devote thousands of hours of employee time and money complying with regulations, compiling tax paperwork, and deciphering the ever-complicated tax code, in addition to innovating and expanding.

Again, not all regulation is unwelcome. In fact, many businesses welcome a certain level of safety regulation to ensure other businesses or states cannot increase competitiveness at the expense of the American worker. Unfortunately, we're well past the point where the benefit of regulations outweighs the cost. And with more regulations stemming from Obamacare on the way, the situation is not likely to improve anytime soon.

The House of Representatives considered several bills recently and will consider others in the upcoming weeks to rein in some of the most onerous government regulations and provide more transparency to the taxpayer. One piece of legislation will ensure the estimated cost of major regulations is released with the final rule. Another would require federal agencies to implement regulations with the least cost possible. And yet another would ensure agencies specifically analyze the cost of regulations on small businesses before issuing final rules.

For my part, I have introduced bipartisan legislation to make permanent a successful program under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that allows businesses with an outstanding safety record to self-regulate their protection of employees from occupational hazards. This program has been successful in both its goals: protecting American workers and freeing businesses from costly inspections and fines.

The federal government should not be in the business of holding back economic progress and I'm glad the House is acting to reduce the federal regulatory burden.

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