Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she’s been focusing on small businesses as she travels across the state. Ernst has been naming a small business of the week and also introduced the “Prove It Act” she says will protect those businesses from federal government overreach.
“It forces our different federal agencies to demonstrate that any new regulation is compliant with already existing laws and it’s considering both the direct and indirect costs of put on the shoulders of small businesses,” she says” The Republican from Red Oak is the ranking member of the Senate Small Business Committee.
“We have a lot of regulators and all of these agencies, they don’t care that it’s going to cost small businesses a lot of money, and they disregard current law,” Ernst says. “So this effort that I have, it would force these agencies to prove it, that it’s not going to cost our small businesses more than the regulation is actually worth.”
Ernst says as she travels throughout the state she continues to hear about the challenges entrepreneurs face due to inflation and a lack of affordable childcare options. She hopes to expand access to Small Business Administration Loans to bring more childcare slots to communities. “If you’re a nonprofit or a church, you can’t apply for a low-interest loan through the Small Business Administration. But oftentimes in the rural areas, these are the only ones that are providing daycare settings,” Ernst says. “And so what we want to do is expand loan opportunities to those groups so that we can provide more childcare in our rural areas.”
Ernst says she’s just finished visiting all 99 Iowa counties for the ninth year in a row.
(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)
