House Committee on Small Business, Republicans

Straight Talk: Curbing Excessive Red Tape

Weekly Update from Sam

Dear Friends,

Reducing regulations is no easy task under this administration, which has produced red tape at record levels. What we can do is ensure that federal agencies take small businesses into account, and require better assessment of the impact of their regulations before they go into effect. In the Small Business Committee, we’ve been working on this issue for the past several years, and we have good news to report this week. The House passed our legislation – the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act – to give small businesses a stronger voice in the regulatory process.

The Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act was coupled with other efforts to reduce and improve regulations. The legislation requires agencies to convene panels that allow the small business community to provide feedback on regulations affecting them. This legislation would bring small businesses in on the front end of the rulemaking process before they have to comply with the regulations later. The legislation also requires agencies to more thoroughly assess indirect impacts – the ripple effects – as well as the direct impact of new regulations.

Our economy needs growth and jobs, not new red tape. Prioritizing small businesses in the rulemaking process is a step in the right direction.

Sincerely,

(signed)
Sam Graves
Chairman

Latest Committee Action

On Monday, the Office of the Chief Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a report on the impact of the health care law on small business health care plans. CMS estimates that two-thirds of small businesses will pay more for health insurance premiums under the President’s health care law. “The Obama administration’s long delay of this CMS report is consistent with the rest of the law – behind schedule and bad news for small business,” said Chairman Graves. Read the complete statement here.

On Wednesday, Chairman Graves introduced legislation that will create jobs by providing more contracting opportunities for small businesses and reforming federal contracting policy that often marginalizes small contractors. The Greater Opportunities for Small Business Act of 2014 will increase the federal government goal for small business contracting from 23 percent to 25 percent, and the Contracting Data and Bundling Accountability Act of 2014 will bring more transparency to the process of issuing bundled and consolidated contracts. Together, these two bills will work to create a more level playing field for small contractors. Next Wednesday, the Committee will markup a package of bills, including these.

On Thursday, by a bipartisan vote of 236-179, the House passed the ALERRT Act (H.R. 2804), which includes the Committee-sponsored Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act as Title III. Chairman Graves gave a floor speech on Wednesday in support of this bill to curb excessive federal regulations and ensure that the effects on small businesses are known and considered. See the video here.

News from Washington

On Wednesday, by a vote of 243-176, the House passed the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act (H.R. 3865). The bill protects the First Amendment rights of Americans and prevents the Internal Revenue Service from targeting groups because of their political positions. The U.S. tax system should be nonpartisan. As you may know, the Acting IRS Commissioner testified before our Committee last year about whether the agency had targeted small businesses based on the political beliefs of their owner(s).

On Thursday, by a vote of 232-182, the House passed the Consumer Financial Protection and Soundness Improvement Act (H.R. 3193), which would reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The bill includes safety and soundness reforms, creates a bipartisan five-member panel to replace the director, establishes the CFPB’s independence from the Federal Reserve and strengthens consumer protections in the CFPB’s information-gathering process. Last Congress, the Committee held a hearing with CFPB Director Richard Cordray that focused on the Bureau’s rulemaking and impacts on small businesses.

Notable Op-Eds