It’s a Presidential election year, and everyone’s mind is on the November ballot box. What’s going to happen in Washington, and how will that affect the business operating environment?

The recent Supreme Court decision overruling Chevron casts a bright light on the role that decisions made at the nation’s capital can have on businesses large and small. Going forward, the nation’s courts rather than federal agencies will have the power to interpret ambiguous laws that affect the daily operations of commercial enterprises.

While laws, regulations, and court decisions at the national level are important, experts caution against getting 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 United States Capitol.

“National politics tends to get all the headlines,” said 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, environmental and health regulations, and even the installation of unsightly utility poles and cell phone towers.

And that’s not all. “Local governments have been expanding their role into employee benefits and rights,” said Marc H. Pfeiffer, Assistant Director at the Bloustein Local Government Research Center. “In many cases, cities are establishing minimum wages.”

Air Freight News, July 12, 2024