Game On: U.S. Chamber Board Game Highlights Unprecedented Regulations Facing Business

Delivers ‘This Way to Jobs’ To Capitol Hill; Highlights Impact of Uncertainty on America’s Job Creators

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As Congress returned to Washington this week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce greeted each member with a unique delivery: an instructive board game highlighting the regulatory hurdles facing American business owners every day.

“The purpose of this game is to highlight the dramatic increase in burdensome regulations that are preventing America’s job creators from planning for or investing in the future,” Bruce Josten, executive vice president of Government Affairs for the U.S. Chamber, said about the This Way to Jobs board game. “The path to recovery lies in bringing certainty to the regulatory environment and putting in place smart policies that allow American businesses to grow, creating the jobs we desperately.”

Players in the game represent business owners who must navigate their way through a difficult road of regulations to reach the finish line, Prosperity Park. But much like the unfortunate reality facing America’s job creators, getting there is easier said than done. Many obstacles stand in the way as players move through Health Care Hill, cross Labor Lagoon, and maneuver past Energy Edge.

Examples of cards from the game include:

• This year, your business of 20 employees opts to take the small business tax credit for health insurance. In 2011, you hire six additional employees for a total of 26. Your business is no longer eligible for the tax credit as the credit is now phased out. Move back 1 space.
• An environmental group sues your proposed 3,200-cow dairy farm under state National Environmental Policy Act regulation citing the cows’ methane emissions for their contribution to climate change. Go back 2 spaces.
• The National Labor Relations Board prosecutes you for violating labor laws, but the court rules in your favor, finding the union charges that led to the prosecution were false. You still owe $100,000 or more in attorneys’ fees. Lose your next turn.

In addition to sending the game to Capitol Hill, the U.S. Chamber is sending This Way to Jobs to state governors’ offices as well as state and local chambers across the country. An online version of the game is available at the Website – www.ThisWaytoJobs.com – a site that showcases the sheer enormity of regulations being imposed in numerous policy areas.

This Way to Jobs is part of a larger effort by the Chamber to highlight the excessive regulatory burden that is facing businesses large and small. Along with regional speeches by senior Chamber officials, the Chamber has placed targeted OpEds, run print and online advertisements, and continued its new and social media push around the overregulation theme.

According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, the total cost of federal regulations is estimated at $1.75 trillion. The compliance burden is 36% higher for small businesses, or $10,600 per employee. Small businesses create 60% to 80% of new jobs. The Code of Federal Regulations, which lists all federal regulations currently in force, spans nearly 150,000 pages over 50 volumes. The United States has added 40,000 new regulations to the books in the last decade. The Chamber is calling on Congress to stop passing sweeping, overly broad laws that leave key decisions to regulators and to exercise more vigorous oversight of rules with an economic impact of more than $100 million.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

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