Snowe Introduces Bill to Help Small Business

Dateline: April 2005 Small businesses would find it easier to comply with complex and confusing federal regulations, if a bill recently introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) becomes law.

The Small Business Compliance Assistance Enhancement Act of 2005 (S. 769) amends the 1996 Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), a law that bolsters the Small Business Office of Advocacy's ability to reduce regulatory barriers that can stifle entrepreneurial growth. It will place new emphasis on compliance guides that agencies are required to write, so that small businesses can better understand complex rules and regulations. It also requires agencies to report annually on their efforts to comply with this law.

"Senator Snowe's bill helps ensure that federal agencies issue compliance guides that are helpful for the small business community," said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy in an SBA press release. "The bill recognizes that small businesses often need compliance help before new rules go into effect."

The bill implements one part of the Office of Advocacy's four-point legislative agenda for the 109th Congress. The legislative agenda is designed to give small businesses a greater voice in the regulatory process by using a targeted approach to provide relief. To implement the remaining three points of the agenda, Advocacy believes that Congress should amend the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) so that:

Federal agencies are required to review all 10-year old regulations for their current impact on small business. This would encourage agencies to update their rules, ensuring that regulatory protections reflect current conditions.

Executive Order 13272 is codified into law. This will ensure that independent agencies comply with the RFA and that all federal agencies consider Advocacy's comments on behalf of small business when they issue final rules.

When federal regulations must be implemented by the states, agencies will analyze the impact of those rules on small entities. Moreover, they should provide states with regulatory alternatives that will enable them to meet federal requirements while minimizing their impact on small entities.

[Source: US Small Business Administration]