Defeating DC crime bill essential for small-business survival: GOP chairman

EXCLUSIVE — THe Republican-led effort overturn the revised criminal code According to one top GOP lawmaker, Washington, D.C. is essential not only for public safety, but also for small business survival.

Rep. Roger Williams Chairman of House Committee on Small Business (Republican-Texas), Tom Perez, applauded his GOP colleagues for helping to pass a bill. repeal the district’s rewritten criminal code, This code sought to lower penalties for certain crimes, such as carjackings and robberies. Williams stressed that such a code could harm local businesses, as it would perpetuate a monopoly. “lawless environment.”

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“Soft-on-crime policies have been devastating for small-business owners,” Williams said that he told the Washington Examiner. “When criminals’ actions go unpunished, small businesses, their employees, and customers are the ones left behind. Public safety is a prerequisite for economic development, and we must ensure the people investing their time and money to run a business are not operating in a lawless environment.”

As crime rates have surged in Washington over the last two years, several small businesses have struggled to stay afloat — forcing many to close their doors. Retail sector small business owners say that they’ve seen an increase in theft in the last year. This has forced them to raise their prices to compensate for financial loss.

According to the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and the Buy Safe America Coalition, shoplifting resulted in more than $62 billion of lost sales, which led to 650,000 job losses.

According to the, the state laws that govern how theft is handled allow for criminal rings to continue operating largely in the absence of consequences. Chamber of Commerce. According to a survey conducted by Th, 75% of small business owners support increasing penalties for retail theft.