Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses

"For the right, few words are more beloved than "deregulation." GOP candidates often spend their campaigns raging against the boogeyman of the regulatory bureaucracy, and once they take office, right-wing policymakers use their power to slash at the guardrails protecting Americans' health, environment, and wallets. In the earliest days of his term, President Donald Trump managed to one-up even the usual Republican enthusiasm for red tape-cutting, assigning federal agencies the ridiculous and arbitrary target of repealing 10 regulations for each new one they enact."

"Progressives have long and justly condemned the deleterious effects of mega-corporations like Walmart and Amazon, whose tax dodging, union busting, and cost-cutting tactics undermine market competition and workers' rights. But Mamdani is pairing leftist critique of big business with deregulatory measures that bolster smaller enterprises. If successful, these policies will help give mom-and-pop shops a fighting chance against the corporate behemoths-and may also offer a new playbook for progressives nationwide."

"After declaring in his inaugural address that he would "free small business owners from the shackles of bloated bureaucracy," Mamdani signed an executive order earlier this month to do just that. It directs city agencies to comb through the more than 6,000 rules governing small businesses and identify opportunities to simplify regulations and reduce the myriad associated fees and fines."

Zohran Mamdani is prioritizing reduction of administrative burdens for more than 183,000 New York small businesses. He signed an executive order directing city agencies to review over 6,000 rules to identify simplifications and reductions in fees and fines. The strategy combines progressive critiques of mega-corporations with targeted deregulatory measures designed to bolster mom-and-pop enterprises against firms such as Walmart and Amazon. The initiative aims to improve small-business competitiveness and viability in the city economy. If the measures succeed, the approach could serve as a scalable policy model for progressive leaders elsewhere.

Read at The Nation