WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) this week sponsored legislation to stop the federal government from imposing regulations not based on sound science and common sense on job creators. Stemming overregulation will give business greater freedom to invest and hire new workers. The bill would strengthen the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA). UMRA was a bipartisan effort to prevent Congress and federal regulators from blindly imposing economic burdens on the private sector and on state, local and tribal governments without weighing the costs and benefits.

“When the message coming from Washington is more regulation and more intrusion into the free market, it’s no wonder businesses are not hiring new workers,” Sen. Moran said. “Instead of creating barriers to job growth, Congress and the Administration must create an environment where businesses can grow and start hiring again – and that starts by reining in government regulations not based on sound science and common sense.”

According to the Small Business Administration, our nation’s smallest businesses – those with less than 20 employees – spend 36 percent more per employee than larger firms to comply with federal regulations; that’s roughly $10,585 per employee to comply with all federal regulations. Small businesses employ half of private sector workers, and have generated 65 percent of new jobs over the last two decades.

“Rather than hiring new employees, businesses are spending money on complying with unreasonable regulations and mandates – from the EPA’s efforts to regulate carbon, to the costly mandates imposed by the new health care law,” Sen. Moran continued. “It makes absolutely no sense to drive up their operating costs and leave them with fewer opportunities to hire new workers.”

Please find attached a two-page summary of how the bill would strengthen the UMRA.

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