Mr. SPANGENBERGER. Highly objectionable are questions seeking information of a security or competitive nature despite assurances that such information will not be divulged by the agency requesting it. Multiplant companies which do not operate on a plant profit basis, are not set up to provide information relative to separate plants-yet they are asked to furnish it on this basis. Mr. JOHANSEN. May I interrupt and have you insert a word of explanation as to what you mean by multiplant companies, and the reason. I think it is obvious perhaps to us but it might be helpful in the record, the reason why you are not set up to provide information relative to separate plants. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. In the survey we made we found that many companies who had more than one plant in more than one location or, for that matter, in the same location but who kept their accounting records and financial reports on a consolidated basis rather than on an individual plant basis were required because of the manufacturers' census form to make out separate reports for each branch plant. They found this to be a very expensive and burdensome chore which consumed many man-hours. Furthermore, they, themselves, have no further necessity for the information which they had compiled which readily points out the extraordinary obligation these companies are subjected to. Mr. JOHANSEN. In other words that would be an operation they would have no reason to do whatever except to comply with this request? Mr. SPANGENBERGER. That's correct. Mr. OLSEN. I think that is very important. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. 2. Discontinuance of reports under the Welfare and Pension Plan Disclosure Act when a company plan is administered by an approved insurance carrier. 3. Discontinuance of the practice of requesting companies to file interim financial reports as requested by the Federal Trade Commission Division of Financial Statistics. 4. Consideration of a regular scheduling of report requirements so as to avoid repetition and duplication of effort. 5. Clear identification of report forms that are mandatory. 6. Many companies receive forms to be filled out which do not apply to their industry or individual business. Therefore, we recommend that this practice be corrected and that forms be sent on classified industry basis. 7. A reduction in the amount of detailed information requested in the Interstate Commerce Commission annual report. Attached is a list of the U.S. Government report forms which one small company is required to fill out. It is conservatively estimated by them that 100 man-hours are required to prepare these reports. These do not include the numerous State and local government reports required. (See p. 36 for list referred to.) Mr. JOHANSEN. May I ask, Mr. Chairman, that the summary referred to be incorporated in the record of the hearings at the end of this statement. Mr. OLSEN. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. It is attached, Mr. Congressman. We find that the paperwork which the Government demands of business is especially costly and oppressive for the small businessman who is struggling to make a profit. One small businessman reported to us, "We have to work into the night to fill out these forms when we should give the time to making a profit." Mr. Chairman, I again thank you on behalf of our association and its members for the privilege of being here, and we congratulate you in your efforts to update, modernize, and eliminate many of the reports which business is now burdened with and which are expensive to them. We sincerely hope that your efforts will be successful in reducing this unnecessary paperwork. Thank you. Mr. ŎLSEN. Thank you. In item 6 you refer to the standard industrial classification. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. We were told by several of our members, to put it one way, that he might be in the dry goods business, for instance, or in the manufacture of boiler tubes or something of that nature, and he would get a report which may apply to the tugboat industry. Finally it went in the wastepaper basket. Before it got to that point it took people's time in the organization to go over it, talk it over with the accounting department, and so on and so forth. Mr. OLSEN. We have run into that before. We agree with you that there must be a standard classification so that people get the correct form and not be bothered with the wrong one. Mr. Johansen? Mr. JOHANSEN. First of all I want to compliment this witness on coming up here with specific recommendations. This is the sort of thing that is very helpful to the committee in its effort to do the thing that I know from your testimony you want to see done. Just for the record, and as a matter of interest, maybe my colleagues on the subcommittee can confirm this, it is my impression that item 2, Mr. Chairman and Congressman O'Brien, would require legislative action, this discontinuance of reports under the Welfare and Pension Plan Disclosure Act when a company plan is administered by an approved insurance carrier. My recollection is that that requirement may be statutory. I think the point is well worth weighing. Mr. OLSEN. I think it came up earlier. We questioned as a matter of fact why Joe's Bar and Grill would have to make industrial accident reports when as a matter of fact it wasn't within their peculiar knowledge. Their insurance carrier took care of all of that. Mr. JOHANSEN. And the same principle would seem to apply to the welfare and pension plan referred to here. Mr. OLSEN. I would think so. Mr. JOHANSEN. I think your recommendation is something that the Congress ought to give consideration to certainly. Mr. OLSEN. We are going to call in the Bureau of Labor Management reports on that very subject that Mr. Johansen has referred to, with references to your talk. Do you have any questions, Mr. O'Brien? Mr. O'BRIEN. No; except to compliment the witness. I think what he has done here is quite important. We have had several witnesses from small establishments. They made it very clear that the paper boys were buzzing around their ears but they were not in position, because of the narrow limitations of their activities, to make specific recommendations. I think that is where you have performed a very valuable service for those small people as well as the larger people you represent. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. Thank you very much. Mr. OLSEN. I wonder if you don't find among your people that they have to hire accountants to complete the forms for them. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. We did find that in many instances, especially with our smaller firms. Mr. OLSEN. The smaller firms don't have an accountant with great skill, so they have to go hire one. Mr. SPANGENBERGER. That's correct. STATEMENT OF ROBERT M. YOUNG, CORPORATE SECRETARY AND GENERAL MANAGER OF THE GREATER ALBANY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Mr. YOUNG. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Johansen, and Mr. O'Brien, my name is Robert M. Young. I am corporate secretary and general manager of the Greater Albany Chamber of Commerce and I appear as a representative of the chamber. The chamber has a business and professional membership of more than 1,700. We are grateful for the opportunity to appear before your committee to discuss the impact of reports and other paperwork on the business firms in this area. On finding that they could not appear personally, two members of the chamber and the commissioner of taxation and finance of the State of New York have asked me to present a statement prepared by them and ask that they be entered into the records of this proceeding. The first statement was prepared by Noel S. Bennett, Jr., president of Barber & Bennett, Inc., Arch and Church Streets, Albany, N.Y. Barber & Bennett manufacture animal and poultry feeds and deal in grains and field seeds. The firm employs approximately 60 persons. Mr. Bennett confined his statement to Federal reports and prepared an itemized list giving the form number, the name of the report, the times prepared, and the hours spent in preparation. In his letter of transmittal, he said: BARBER & BENNETT, INC., GREATER ALBANY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DEAR MR. YOUNG: In response to your recent letter in regard to the hearing to be conducted by the congressional committee, we have compiled the enclosed list of the forms which we are required to prepare, and the number of man-hours it takes to prepare them. The time estimated as shown we consider to be very conservative at 100 manhours per year. Actually we feel the time is much longer. U.S. Government reports Form No. CB-59E-1.. CB-50E-1. 940... 1086-1099.. BLS 1418. 450.. 941. W-2.. W-3. 2290 2950. Name of report and description Census reports, 4 reports consisting of 4 pages U.S. annual information return, report all divi- Federal deposit slips, report of taxes withheld Withholding tax statements, type individuals Yearly. Federal use tax return on highway motor vehicles, 16 to 20 hours. do. 2 hours. do.. 2 hours. 1 The amount of work and research involved in this report is tremendous. It takes at least a week to compile the information, although the actual work-hours spent on it may only total 8 hours. The insurance company which handles the plan has to be contacted in order to get most of the information. Roughly, the form asks for: Total number of employees in plan, total ineligible employees, length of service, number of employees eligible, total compensation paid. List of the 25 highest paid employees under the plan. Even after the report was finished our auditors reported that the Internal Revenue agent who requested the report was not sure, himself, if it was made out correctly. Mr. YOUNG. I would like to read two paragraphs of this report relative to form No. 2950 which is a statement in support of deduction for payment to employees' pension plan, profit sharing, stock bonds, trust or annuity plan, and compensation under a deferred payment plan. Mr. Bennett said: The amount of work and research involved in this report is tremendous. It takes at least a week to compile the information, although the actual workhours spent on it may only total 8 hours. The insurance company which handles the plan has to be contacted in order to get most of the information. |