The Wall Street Journal: Businesses Prepare for Government Deregulation

As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day nears, business leaders across the country are preparing for what is expected to be a vastly different economic climate. From overtime pay to power-plant emission rules, experts are predicting that Trump will overhaul government regulations when he’s in office.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal notes that members of Trump’s cabinet indicate that these changes are imminent. His pick to head the Labor Department, CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc. CEO Andrew Puzder, for example, has consistently been vocal about his concerns surrounding President Obama’s regulations on U.S. businesses. He has a long history of calling for regulatory cut backs.

In an opinion column for The Wall Street Journal in September, Puzder responded to the Obama administration’s plans to extend overtime pay to employees working more than 40 hours a week while earning less than $47,476. He said, “To remain competitive, restaurants will need to reduce labor costs by eliminating positions, reducing employee hours, accelerating automation and slowing expansion.”

The International Franchise Association is in agreement with Puzder. The franchising industry’s premier organization issued a release on Puzder’s expected nomination and applauded Trump for bringing a leader familiar with the Labor Department’s regulations on board.

IFA President and CEO Robert Cresanti said, “As CEO of a franchise company, Puzder has seen firsthand the impact of regulations promulgated by President Obama, Secretary Perez and Wage & Hour Administrator David Weil.  This perspective gives him a different set of qualifications than the typical Washington insider. We are hopeful that, if confirmed by the Senate, a top priority will be rolling back the damaging effects caused by the expansion of joint employer liability to America’s 733,000 franchise businesses, and the too-far, too-fast increase in the overtime threshold that was recently put on hold by a Texas judge.”

To read the original article, click here.