State legislators tried to assist small businesses

To the editor:

As a small-business owner, I wish to express my appreciation to our state legislators for their attempts to help Missouri's small-business community. With small businesses employing half of the nation's workers and responsible for the creation of two-thirds of the nation's new jobs, creating an environment helpful to small business is beneficial for all. With our state leading the nation in job loss, it behooves us to ensure that Missouri's small-business community is positioned to create more jobs, not lose them.

Such legislation included a tort-reform bill that would have addressed the medical malpractice crisis, an unemployment compensation reform bill and a bill that would have given small businesses a stronger voice in the state regulatory process.

The General Assembly recognized that small business is not the same as a big business. Legislators recognized that many regulations are written to handle problems within a larger company and can have unintended, negative effects on small business. They recognized that our regulatory burden costs approximately 60 percent more per employee than big business. They responded by passing with nearly unanimous, bipartisan support a bill to address these differences.

The Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act would have required an impact analysis and consideration of possibly less burdensome alternatives if the rules would have been too onerous on small businesses.

Perhaps during the next session our legislators can make their visions become reality and change the economic climate by making Missouri a place where the entrepreneurial spirit thrives.

KATHY SWAN

JCS/TEL-LINK

Cape Girardeau