The Associated Builders and Contractors are opposing the creation of a consumer protection bureau as part of financial reform.

The Associated Builders and Contractors are opposing the creation of a consumer protection bureau as part of a financial reform bill working through the U.S. Senate.

The association said the bill’s bookkeeping requirements would be difficult for small businesses to meet.

“We do not need more red tape and more federal government regulations,” Jim Elmer, the ABC’s national chairman, and founder and president of James W. Elmer Construction Co. in Spokane, Wash. “The majority of U.S. construction firms are small businesses that need unhampered access to capital to fund construction projects and create jobs.”

Elmer said the Senate needs to abandon the current effort.

In order to jump start the lagging economy and put the men and women of the construction industry back to work, ABC calls on Congress and the administration to focus on free-enterprise initiatives and open competition instead of creating yet another new federal government agency,” Elmer said. “With unemployment in the construction industry at nearly 25 percent, creating jobs should be their No. 1 priority.”