Tomorrow You May See Tens of Thousands of These

Last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission had an opportunity to act in a sensible manner and provide important and immediate relief to retailers in the crib industry who requested an extension of the effective date of the new mandatory crib standards. The retailers of these cribs, which the Commission deemed were safe enough to continue to be used for another two years in day care facilities, stand to lose at least $32 million dollars when they are required to throw out noncompliant cribs on June 28. We all agree that the economy is growing painfully slowly, with high unemployment, minimal job creation, and a crushing national debt due in part to the reduced tax revenues associated with a weak economy. Among the central factors economists attribute to the reluctance of private sector employers to hire employees and invest capital are the costs and uncertainty of complying with new regulations. By failing to provide relief to crib retailers, the Commission continues to create over burdensome regulations without a safety justification.

I urge you to read my most recent statement on this issue and comment with your thoughts. If we at the Commission continue to ignore the voices of small businesses, sooner or later there won’t be any small businesses to ignore.