The Detroit News - Panelists at Plymouth Twp. Hearing Say Federal Regulations Hurting Small Businesses

News Article

By Louis Aguilar

Two Republican congressmen held a hearing in Plymouth Township Tuesday that drove home the GOP narrative that President Obama is killing small businesses through increased federal regulation.

"Many of the new regulations are designed to put me out of business," said Janet Kaboth, president and CEO of an Alliance, Ohio, firm that makes bricks. In the past, Kaboth has spoken out on "the war on coal" by federal regulators, according to previous media reports.

She was among four panelists chosen to speak at the hearing sponsored by Republican Reps. John Mica, of Florida, and Kerry Bentivolio, of Michigan. About 50 people attended the hearing at the Plymouth Township Hall.

"This used to be the Arsenal of Democracy," Mica said, referring to the phrase coined during World War II that conveyed Michigan's key manufacturing role in producing war machinery. "Now, I'm really concerned how many machinists we have lost" to foreign competition, he said.

Thousands of new regulations have been enacted under the Obama administration, mostly through the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, new EPA pollution rules and health care reform, also known as Obamacare. But the impact of those rules is one of the many polarizing issues between the two parties, with both sides quoting differing studies and statistics to support their stances.

Democrats contend Dodd-Frank doesn't really target small businesses. It's aimed mostly at Wall Street and banks that issue credit cards and mortgages. The environmental rules apply primarily to big energy companies.

Between 2008 and 2013, regulation went from being small business's fourth most important problem -- after sales, taxes and the cost/availability of insurance -- to being its biggest difficulty, according to a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.

"There is intimidation by regulation, now," said Richard Kligman, president of Superb Custom Homes, a Michigan home builder.

Bentivolio asked the four panelists to share their concerns about Obamacare.

Each panelist recalled hearing anecdotal evidence about how the new health care law had negatively impacted the business of their clients. None, however said it has had much direct influence on their own companies. An estimated 5.4 million businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employers -- a large chunk of the nation's businesses -- are not required to offer workers insurance.

But in January, 45 percent of small-business owners with at least five employees said they have reduced their hiring plans because of Obamacare, and almost a 29 percent said they had been forced to make staff cuts, according to a national U.S. Bancorp survey of small business owners.

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