President Donald Trump's announcement saying he may be able to cut regulations for businesses is welcome news to many small business owners in San Diego County.
On Monday, President Trump met with CEOs of businesses at the White House. During the meeting, Mr. Trump told them he believed he could cut regulations by 75 percent or “maybe more.”
“The small business barely survives because there's a lot of regulations,” said Sameh Abdel-Masih.
Abdel-Masih runs The Swedish Royal Bakery in Poway. The last six months have been hard on him. He used to have three employees. Now, it’s just him and his wife.
“We pay a lot of money here and there and it's just a small business,” he said.
Mary Rhynes runs Haven Studio Hair Salon a few doors down.
She’s a wife and a mother, but in this election, she voted for the candidate who would be in the best interest of her business.
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“Anyone who ran that was a business person, I would vote for them over a politician," Rhynes said.
Federal deregulations don’t impact her directly, but it could boost her bottom line.
“If big businesses stay here and good paying jobs stay here, that's my client base,” Rhynes said.
But in Mission Valley, Bankruptcy Attorney Dan Shay sees things differently.
“As a bankruptcy lawyer, I hate to say it, but I think business is going to boom over the next four to eight years,” he said, a nod to the housing market crisis. “What happened the last time we deregulated?”
Shay also noted that many of these regulations have practical applications to protect consumers.
The fact is, until there is a concrete plan put forth by the Trump Administration, there is no way to know which regulations are on the chopping block or how that will impact business.
It is unclear if state regulations will loosen as well.
