This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Betts with Gene Marks, the small business columnist

for the Guardian newspaper, UK edition, US edition, and our hometown newspaper, The Philadelphia

Inquirer, and other distinguished publications, including The Hill. And Gene has a piece in

The Hill right now that is vaguely discouraging if you live in a blue state, which I do. I've

always lived in blue states. It's just a thing in the East Coast. But right now, some of

these states have creativity. And that's driving small business costs. Please explain to

you.

My column in The Hill, which came out today, it is a, I've been getting lots of feedback

from it. And frustration. It is, it really, I've been bookmarking articles throughout

this year. Regulations are being passed and imposed on small businesses around the country

on a state and local level. I mean, we hear a lot about, you know, the Biden administration

and the Department of Labor and, you know, stuff that's coming in on the federal level.

But I mean, for goodness sake, John, I mean, you know, if you are in Illinois, which joined

two states this year, now mandating employers to provide paid time off to their employees

mandating them, regardless of the reason, you know, Maryland employees can have partially

paid time off that's funded by employers. Minnesotans are now allowed to take paid sick

time off, which gets funded by employers. That's just, you know, paid time off. There's

all sorts of regulations around the country like in Illinois, for example, an employer can

be held, you know, potentially liable if an employee insults another worker's gender,

race, or sexual orientation. You're liable as an employer if you're in the state, you

know, of Illinois. And I know you like this. In New York, there's a bunch of new rules,

New York City loves having regulations. But they are, you know, there's a new rule that's

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