The
Associated Builders and Contractors are opposing the creation of a consumer
protection bureau as part of financial reform.
The Associated Builders
and Contractors are opposing the creation of a consumer protection bureau as
part of a financial reform bill working through the U.S. Senate.
The association said the
bill’s bookkeeping requirements would be difficult for small businesses to
meet.
“We do not need more red tape
and more federal government regulations,” Jim Elmer, the ABC’s
national chairman, and founder and president of James W. Elmer Construction Co.
in Spokane, Wash. “The majority of
U.S. construction firms are small businesses that need unhampered access to
capital to fund construction projects and create jobs.”
Elmer said the Senate needs
to abandon the current effort.
In order to jump start the
lagging economy and put the men and women of the construction industry back to
work, ABC calls on Congress and the administration to focus on free-enterprise
initiatives and open competition instead of creating yet another new federal
government agency,” Elmer said. “With unemployment in the construction industry
at nearly 25 percent, creating jobs should be their No. 1 priority.”
