Congressional field hearing yields real small business issues

South Carolina Congressman Mick Mulvaney held a field hearing in Rock Hill, SC, yesterday titled “Caught Up in Red Tape: The Impact of Federal Regulations on Small Businesses and Contractors”. Mr. Mulvaney is the Chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce.
I wasn’t able to attend the meeting but did have a long conversation with the Rock Hill Herald reporter, Ms. Jamie Self, who covered the event.

I expected the hearing would turn into a showcase for anti-regulation mantra we hear so often from politicians. To my surprise, I was told that no one testified that regulations were killing jobs. Instead the views expressed were about big businesses having an advantage over small businesses getting government contracts, lack of knowledge about the Affordable Care Act benefits for small businesses and the lack of customers—all very real issues.

So congratulations to Mr. Mulvaney for not trying to stack the deck with anti-regulation rhetoric testimony. By simply opening up the forum to all comers, he heard real concerns from small business owners—not political talking points.

And maybe it was this lack of negative comments about regulations that inspired Mr. Mulvaney before the hearing ended to say that regulations can be good. According to the news story:

“Mulvaney emphasized that not all regulations are ‘bad,’ including those regulating safety in the workplace and in food and drugs and those that ‘keep our financial markets transparent.’”