In New Mexico, we say we love small business. But our government is not very nice to it.
Small business was mentioned by the gubernatorial candidates in the recent primary with the customary platitudes about how New Mexico should reduce regulatory burdens. Maybe we’ll hear more of it in the general election campaign. Maybe not much.
In the coming year, we can probably expect at least one attempt to increase the cost of running any business with a renewed proposal for employee family and medical leave – admirable public policy as long as you don’t concern yourself with how it’s paid for.
But, momentarily setting aside that big issue, what can we do about that regulatory burden?
After spending years working in a state agency that regulated business, here’s my observation.
Small business’ problem is not any one regulatory issue but the totality of them. Requirements come from at least a dozen different directions and nobody in government leadership knows where they all are. Small business owners don’t speak up nearly enough.
Regulatory requirements come from different federal, state and local agencies. Some are in statutes and some are in rules; business owners don’t know the difference. They may involve reports that the business owner has to file, requirements for how employees must be treated, tax filings, safety requirements and numerous other issues. Some requirements apply to all businesses; others to all businesses that have employees; some are based on the type of work done. There is no comprehensive list. I have looked for it.
Years ago, the state’s Small Business Development Centers published a handbook called Starting Out, which made a good attempt at gathering all the basics in one publication, along with information about marketing, financing and other relevant matters. It included information on unemployment, payroll taxes, several other regulatory issues; I contributed a section on workers’ comp.
The book was moved to an online format quite a few years ago. Somewhere along the line the regulatory information was removed. It’s gone. I’ve looked again recently and can’t find similar information anywhere.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland says she’s going to establish an office of small business. Based on the brief description, this office would probably duplicate the Small Business Development Centers that are already located all around the state.
Republican candidate Gregg Hull, in his online policy statement, talks more about reducing regulatory requirements but does not say much about how.
More than 30 years ago, I was involved in a minor way when New Mexico passed the workers’ compensation reform law. I was and still am supportive of most of that law, which attempts to create a fair and economically reasonable way to treat workers who suffer work-related injuries.
But a few problematic areas still have not been fixed. The people who wrote the law made the thoughtless assumption that both business owners and employees would know the rules. But some of the rules are complex and difficult. Most employers have to buy a workers’ comp insurance policy. But buying the insurance is just the beginning of what the employer is supposed to do.
If we really want to make life easier for small business, the next governor should coordinate a multi-agency project to get input from all the agencies, review all the rules from all sources, listen to hundreds of small business owners and make a plan to document and simplify regulatory compliance. This is tedious and not at all glamorous, but it could make New Mexico a little easier for those hardworking small business people