Report: Excessive regulations make Florida's poverty rate worse

From accountants to zookeepers, executives and entrepreneurs often bemoan the regulatory state — and how over-regulation can creep up silently and then, once there, it rarely retreats.

Now the grumbles have some validation, in a new study from Mercatus Center at George Mason University scholars Dustin Chambers and Colin O’Reilly. The report, "The Regressive Effects of Regulations in Florida," analyzed federal rules applied to Florida businesses from 1997 to 2017. It found, in total, that the federal regulatory burden upon Florida over those two decades increased by 75% and the consequences  — whether intended or not — are significant. The increased regulations are directly connected to higher consumer prices, fewer small business starts and fewer new jobs, the report shows.