Regulation and Economic Growth
October 26, 2011

Hi, I’m Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania Chamber. Welcome to this month’s Pennsylvania Chamber Minute.

Job creators understand government’s role to protect its citizens and, therefore, support a reasonable balance between regulation and economic growth.

But when government’s over-reach tips this delicate balance, business competitiveness and jobs are at risk. In fact, according to the Chamber’s recent Economic Survey, over-regulation was the number two response to an open-ended question about the biggest hurdles to job creation, second only to concerns about the economy in general.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise for those keeping an eye on Washington.

From the unrealistic push to chase down every last molecule of pollution to a barrage of proposed National Labor Relations Board dictates on private-sector employers, to a federal health-care reform law that punishes smaller companies for increasing their workforce, government is making business growth more challenging at a time when the economy already presents a tremendous obstacle.

As an example, the recent decisions to shutdown/sell the Sunoco and ConocoPhillips refineries in southeast Pennsylvania were made partly because of cost-prohibitive regulatory requirements and the threat of additional regulations from Washington.

If there is any good news, it is that a growing number of elected officials recognize that regulations do have an impact on jobs and the economy. And the Pennsylvania Chamber is working with these forward-thinking lawmakers.

We are engaged at the national level in the effort to pass the bipartisan EPA Regulatory Relief Act, which would give the agency time to revise economically damaging regulations for industrial, commercial and institutional boilers. These regulations would cost manufacturers more than $14 billion in compliance costs alone, $726 million of which would be borne by Pennsylvania business. This threatens tens of thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth.

Additionally we are joining national partners in challenging the Obama administration’s attempts to accomplish through regulation what it couldn’t achieve through the solidly rejected union card check legislation.

At the state level, we support a measure that would require government agencies to consider the impact of proposed regulations on small businesses, offering flexible compliance alternatives when appropriate.

And our members have testified before policymakers, offering suggestions on workable improvements to the regulatory climate that still provide necessary oversight.

Commonsense reforms will go a long way toward helping job creators succeed and securing the solid economic recovery that continues to elude our state and nation.

Thank you for your support, and for spending a minute of your time with the Pennsylvania Chamber, the statewide voice of business.

And special thanks to this month’s sponsor – RT Environmental Services – a solution-oriented professional environmental engineering and remediation firm offering services throughout Pennsylvania.