The legislature, as usual, thinks the only way to help small businesses and the economy is to give special financial advantages to a select group of businesses at the expense of the general public.
As Becki describes, the proposed H.E.L.P. bill isn’t the correct solution to helping small businesses or the economy.
What can be done to help small businesses?
First, the personal income tax rate could be lowered (the personal tax rate applies to many small businesses). Secondly, there should be regulatory reform, as I wrote in a recent report.
While there needs to be across-the-board regulatory reform, there are targeted steps for small businesses that also need to be taken.
For 30 years, the federal government has employed something called small business regulatory flexibility analysis. All this means is that government agencies must consider the needs of small businesses when developing regulations. If necessary, regulations should be modified for small businesses, such as by extending compliance dates or even excluding small businesses from compliance requirements.
States across the county take into account the unique needs of small businesses in developing their regulations. About 35 states, including some of our neighbors, have small business regulatory flexibility analysis.
If we want to remain competitive, a good place to start is to reduce the costly regulatory burden on small businesses. While most states and even the federal government have taken action on this issue, North Carolina lags behind and continues to impose onerous regulations. Further, without such a law, North Carolina is sending a message that we are unfriendly to small business.
It isn’t complicated. Giving money away to small businesses isn’t the solution to help the economy. However, giving small businesses an environment where they can flourish is the solution.
