NFIB urges action against federal heat mandate for small businesses

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is calling on the Trump administration and Congress to block a federal workplace heat standard. The group argues the rule would create new regulatory burdens for small businesses while doing little to improve workplace safety.

In a June 24 op-ed published in the Washington Reporter, Dylan Rosnick, NFIB’s director of federal government relations, urged officials to reject the heat standard the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) first proposed in 2024. He argued that even a “flexible” version would still add compliance costs. It would also introduce new requirements in the 42 states that currently have no heat standard of their own. He warned that a future administration could rewrite the rule to make it stricter.

Rosnick frames the proposal as a step backward after what he calls a historic year for small business policy. He points to the 20% Small Business Deduction being made permanent and to temporary relief from the Beneficial Ownership Information reporting mandate, which NFIB wants repealed outright. He argues a new heat mandate would chip away at the confidence those changes gave owners.

Rosnick also pushes back on the idea that a federal standard could be “flexible.” He argues small businesses already manage heat-related hazards on their own. Unlike larger competitors, he says, they lack compliance departments to absorb new paperwork. NFIB says owners have told the group the rule would force them to hire staff and raise prices. Some owners have warned it could push them to close during warmer months.

On the legislative side, Rosnick points to the Heat Workforce Standards Act, introduced by Rep. Mark Messmer (R-Ind.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). The bill would block OSHA’s standard from being finalized and prevent a future administration from pursuing a similar rule.

Rosnick closes by citing the stakes. He notes that American small businesses, taken together, would rank as the world’s third-largest economy behind the U.S. and China. They would account for roughly two-thirds of new job growth nationally. He argues Congress and the administration should keep building on the environment that lets small businesses hire, invest in workers, and reinvest in their communities, rather than add new compliance hurdles.

The op-ed builds on an issue brief NFIB released in April. NFIB is pressing the administration to withdraw OSHA’s proposed rule and halt further efforts to establish a national heat standard.