The voters have spoken, and a new administration has taken up residence in Washington.
Everyone’s mind is on the future: What’s going to happen in terms of legislation, and how will that affect the business operating environment?
While federal laws and regulations are important, experts caution against getting too distracted from events closer to home. Profits, after all, are more often affected by ordinances passed in the town hall than by what comes out of the White House and the U.S. Capitol.
“National politics tends to get all the headlines,” says Cliff Ennico, an attorney who counsels on business matters. “But the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of political decisions that affect businesses are local in nature.”
Municipal ordinances can touch business operations in a remarkable number of ways. A partial list includes taxation, business licensing, zoning laws, street and traffic patterns, parking regulations, building design and signage, and environmental and health regulations.
That’s not all.
“Local governments have been expanding their role into employee benefits and rights,” says Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director at the Bloustein Local Government Research Center. “In many cases, cities are establishing minimum wages.”
Speaking up
Given the stakes involved, it’s important for every business to promote favorable local ordinances and protest damaging ones. Being an effective business ambassador, though, requires laying a bit of groundwork.
That means acquiring a solid grounding in a town’s political dynamics.
“Business owners should get to know the structure of their local government and who is responsible for making what decisions,” says John Pelissero, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. “Knowing what each official’s duties are, and whether they have a role in regulating a certain area, will facilitate efficient interactions and the provision of useful information.”
Identifying the “movers and shakers” who should get the business perspective on a proposed ordinance is one thing. Reaching them in time is another.
To get wind of proposed legislation in advance of its passage into law requires some “early warning system” that issues an alert when controversial proposals first arise. There are many ways to create such a system.
One is to get on mailing lists maintained by local and state legislators, community and trade associations, and towns themselves.
“Local communities are required by law in most states to publish their calendars of events and information on what they’re doing,” Ennico says. “So, find your town’s website, bookmark it and make a point to check in and see what’s going on at least once a week. What committees are meeting?”
Civic associations such as the Jaycees, Rotary, Lions Club and Kiwanis can also provide conduits to news about proposed regulations. So-called “hyperlocal” websites, often maintained by weekly digital newspapers, also publish alerts about town proposals.
“Local organizations are often made up of business owners and can provide a platform to discuss legislation,” says Nancy Bocskor, development director at Business For America.