ENZI MOVES TO PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES FROM RISING COSTS OF UNFUNDED MANDATES IN FEDERAL BUDGET BILL

Washington D.C. – Moving to protect small businesses and working families from runaway costs created by federal mandates, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-WY, today offered an amendment to the budget bill that would require a 60-vote threshold for the Senate to approve measures that impose new unfunded mandates, which are burdensome and costly requirements for businesses to take on additional regulatory duties and foot the bill. “We here in Washington don’t have a monopoly on good ideas, and the Senate needs a procedural tool to remind us that the policies we pass under this great dome often translate into higher costs for our nation’s Main Street,” Enzi said. “This amendment is about providing relief from escalating expenses so that small businesses can survive and working families can make ends meet.” A prime example of the so-called “unfunded mandate” can be found in a recently- introduced bill that would dictate the number of paid sick days private employers must provide their employees. Generally, unfunded mandates can be any laws requiring private business to carry out additional duties, such as record-keeping or report-filing, without providing the money to pay for those added duties. Enzi, who serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP Committee) and as a Member of the Senate Budget Committee, offered the amendment to the budget bill (S.Con.Res.21) to require that 60 Senators must vote in favor of new, unfunded private sector mandates if their projected cost to small businesses would exceed $131 million, which is the threshold set by the “Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.” “Every time Washington pushes an unfunded mandate onto the backs of our small businesses, we drive up their operating costs and impede their ability to grow, create jobs, and compete in this increasingly global economy,” Enzi said. “Unfunded mandates have a particularly destructive impact on our nation’s small businesses, which spend 45 percent more per employee than large businesses in compliance costs to meet unfunded mandates. Make no mistake, when small businesses suffer, working families do too.” “By requiring that any legislation that places large mandates on small business receive 60 votes in the Senate, we can ensure that a bill with enough support to win passage will reflect a reasonable, balanced package,” Enzi added. Under the “Unfunded Mandates Reform Act,” legislation imposing unfunded mandates above $61 million on state and local governments requires 60 votes to win approval. The Enzi amendment would establish a similar threshold for mandates on the private sector. UMRA already requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to estimate the cost of mandates that Congress imposes on the private sector. ####