Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act Introduced on Day 1 of New Congress
WASHINGTON - House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) kicked off the 115th Congress by introducing H.R. 33, the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2017.
The bill forces federal regulators to craft smarter, less burdensome regulations that take into consideration their direct and reasonably foreseeable indirect economic effects, especially on small businesses.
“Small businesses are often hit first and worst by regulatory decisions made by Washington bureaucrats with little to no consideration about what they will mean for small businesses and their employees,” said Chairman Chabot. “The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act represents a better way to grow our economy by ensuring that small businesses are no longer an afterthought in federal rulemaking. By giving small businesses and the people who depend on them a say in the regulations they must live under, it will force the federal government to think about what is best for our job creators before it acts, not after.”
The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act strengthens and clarifies the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) of 1980. In the over 36 years since the RFA was enacted, agencies have exploited loopholes to get around the good-government intentions of the original legislation. The Internal Revenue Service frequently uses these loopholes to avoid RFA compliance. Chairman Chabot’s bill closes these loopholes by requiring more detailed analysis of proposed regulations, providing greater opportunity for small business input, and ensuring agencies regularly review regulations already on the books for their economic impact on small businesses.
Original Cosponsors: Goodlatte (R-VA), Marino (R-PA), Radewagen (R-AS), Knight (R-CA), Cuellar (D-TX), Graves (R-MO), Sessions (R-TX), King (R-IA), Kelly (R-MS), Tipton (R-CO), Curbelo (R-FL), Hultgren (R-IL), and Luetkemeyer (R-MO).
