• Homeland Security Department Takes Center Stage

• NASE Fights to Lift Regulatory Burdens

• Minimum Wage Survey Results

• NASE to Release Survey on Micro-business Access to Affordable Health Care

Homeland Security Takes Center Stage

The NASE is diligently working to ensure Congress does not forget
the plight of micro-businesses as it shifts its focus to homeland
security. The recent announcement by the Bush Administration to
create a Department of Homeland Security has greatly affected the
focus of Congress. The purpose of the new department and cabinet
position is to consolidate all agencies and departments
responsible for domestic security functions. President Bush asked
Congress to send him legislation before the House and Senate
adjourn this fall that would create the new department by January
1, 2003. This request will be the main focus of the House and the
Senate's legislative agenda for the rest of the session, taking
attention and debate away from key micro-business issues. Please
contact your members of Congress to urge them to not lose focus
on issues affecting the nation's micro-businesses while they work
on the important issue of homeland security.
 

NASE Fights to Lift Regulatory Burdens

NASE Members pay thousands of dollars annually to comply with
federal regulations. The NASE wants to reduce this burden. To
that end, the NASE has been closely monitoring the discussions of
two House Small Business Subcommittees, Regulatory Reform and
Oversight plus Workforce, Empowerment and Government Programs.
These subcommittees recently held a joint hearing about the cost
of government regulation to small business.

A new report by W. Mark Crain and Thomas D. Hopkins, The Impact
of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms, found that "firms employing
fewer than 20 employees face an annual regulatory burden of $6,
975 per employee, a burden nearly 60 percent above that facing a
firm with over 500 employees." The report also states
"environmental regulations and the paperwork burdens of tax
compliance are particularly disproportionate in hitting small
businesses."

As discussed in the hearing, Congress passed the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA) and Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act (SBREFA) in the 1990s to deal with laws, and little
is being done to alleviate burdens on micro-businesses.

A General Accounting Office report, entitled Regulatory Reform:
Compliance Guide Requirement has Little Effect on Agency
Practices, found that six federal agencies including the Commerce
Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal
Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange
Commission failed to produce small-business guidance documents
required by SBREFA.

Several solutions were discussed at the hearing, including
closing the loopholes in RFA and SBREFA and legislation (H.R.
4710) authored by Small Business Committee Ranking Member Rep.
Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) that would track for the first time the
paperwork requirements of regulation compliance that burden small
firms.

The NASE will continue to follow the issue of regulatory affairs
and keep you informed on legislation that may affect your micro-
business.
 

Minimum Wage Survey Results

The National Association for the Self-Employed conducted an
online survey to gain insight on the perspective of NASE Members
and our nation's micro-businesses regarding an increase in the
minimum wage. Currently the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour.
However, there are numerous proposals in Congress to raise it to
$5.75, $6.16 and/or $6.75 per hour.

The NASE received a total of 117 responses to the minimum wage
survey indicating that:

• 34 percent of respondents own and solely manage their micro-businesses.
• 22 percent had two employees.
• 26 percent had three to five employees.
• 6 percent had 10-25 employees.
• 4 percent had more than 25 employees.

When asked how an increase in the minimum wage would affect their
businesses, the results indicated:

• 58 percent of respondents felt an increase would not affect their businesses.
• 23 percent felt an increase in the minimum wage would negatively affect their businesses.
• 15 percent felt an increase would positively affect their businesses.

If you would like to express your opinion on the minimum wage,
please go to the "Tell Your Story" section of the NASE advocacy
Web site. For more information on this issue, please contact Kristie Darien, NASE director of government affairs.
 

NASE to Release Survey on Micro-business Access to Affordable
Health Care

The NASE knows how expensive health care can be for the self-
employed and micro-business owners - in fact, the NASE will
release its complete report, Affordability in Health Care: Trends
in American Micro-Business, at a press event at 11 a.m. (EST),
Tuesday, June 18 in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol
Hill. NASE President Robert Hughes will be joined by several key
speakers including Chairman of the House Small Business Committee
Donald Manzullo, Congressman Ernest Fletcher and others.

If you are an NASE Member and are interested in putting a face
behind the statistics so the media and Congress can understand
how the current health care crisis affects you and your micro-
business, please contact Maureen Petron, NASE public affairs
manager, at mpetron@nase.org.
 

For more information about any of the articles in Washington Watch, contact Maureen Petron, NASE public affairs manager, at (202) 466-2100 or mpetron@nase.org.