Small business owners and policy advocates in Oklahoma testified in front of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Tuesday about the economic struggles they face due to labor shortages, regulations, supply chain issues and inflation.
The committee, led by Republican Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, went to Oklahoma for a field hearing to speak directly with Oklahomans about the state of the economy, rather than bringing them to Washington.
Chuck Mills, the president of Mills Machine Company, a manufacturer of drilling tools, spoke about how labor shortages, supply chain bottlenecks and inflation took a toll on his business. (RELATED: ‘The Crisis Of Rising Costs Of Everything’: West Virginians Tell Congress About Hardships In Biden’s Economy)
The Ways & Means Committee is on the ground in Yukon, Oklahoma hear directly from working Americans about life after 2 years of one-party Democrat rule.
Tune in: https://t.co/DUFirSfgGa
— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) March 7, 2023
“The lack of workforce and supply chain issues, combined with inflationary pressures, have made this economy the most difficult economy I have dealt with in over four decades,” Mills said. “Respectfully, please encourage able-bodied Americans to return to the workforce. Please do not raise tax rates that would further restrict our cashflow. Please do not make it any harder for me to stay in business here in Oklahoma.”
Mills described how a lack of workers fed into the supply chain crisis, which he hired an additional employee to manage full-time. He also told the committee how inflation led to price increases of 10-25 percent on raw materials until they began to stabilize in Nov. 2022. Mills was the mayor of Shawnee, Oklahoma, from 2004 to 2008. He has also worked on economic development initiatives for the state.
Bryan Jackson, an Army veteran who runs a meat processing business, recounted a similar experience with the labor shortage. “Today we are facing an increasingly challenging work environment where employees may or may not show up to work. As a result, our ability to complete the work we commit to as a service company is made more difficult,” he said. Jackson also talked about how inflation is affecting his business and the beef industry as a whole.
Joe Brevetti, an oil and gas executive, testified about how economic conditions and Biden administration regulations are affecting his industry. “The oil and natural gas industry takes great pride in the role we play to both drive our state economy and to provide our nation with American-made energy. However, efforts by the Biden administration to slow oil and natural gas development threaten our ability to do both, putting the communities and families that rely on a robust oil and natural gas industry for survival in jeopardy,” he said.
He highlighted tax and regulatory measures by federal agencies that would negatively impact his business. The standard intangible drilling cost (IDC) tax deduction could be jeopardized by the book minimum tax in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Brevetti said. Brevetti also expressed concerns about a waste prevention rule from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and a methane emission rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Kelli Payne, a small business owner and political operative, expressed displeasure with overregulation. She cited the EPA’s Waters of the United States rule and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s use of the Endangered Species Act to limit cattle grazing.
A representative from the Oklahoma Policy Institute, a left-wing think tank, testified as the Democratic witness and argued for increasing the minimum wage, expanding various tax credits and enacting paid family leave.