Staff Reports
The House Committee on Small Business is set to take a bold stance against the regulatory overreach of the Biden-Harris administration. This Tuesday, the committee will convene to markup seven bills specifically designed to alleviate the crushing $1.7 trillion in regulations that the current administration has thrust upon small businesses. It seems that while Joe and Kamala promise to support small businesses, their actions tell a different story, costing hundreds of millions of hours in compliance paperwork.
For those keen on keeping track of regulatory absurdity, the aforementioned $1.7 trillion drain has become a rallying point for conservative lawmakers. A recent report revealed that the Biden-Harris administration has been playing a bureaucratic shell game, issuing massive regulations while failing to assess their outsized impact on the very businesses they profess to champion. The elite in Washington may not care, but this regulatory nightmare hits Main Street hard.
House Republicans hammer Biden-Harris agenda that imposed $1.7 trillion in regulations on small businesses @HouseSmallBiz https://t.co/6Z9TtA0g3U
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) September 10, 2024
The regulatory laws under review are poised to heed back to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, signed by Jimmy Carter in 1980—a time when the government was at least pretending to care about the little guy. Lawmakers have found twenty-eight separate infractions where federal agencies allegedly ignored the economic consequences of their regulatory whims. In layman’s terms, it means many bureaucrats are clearly too busy pushing agendas to worry about how their rules suffocate small business owners.
The committee’s findings reveal some eye-opening tactics federal agencies have adopted to sidestep proper regulation assessments. From mishandling certifications—failing to prove that new rules wouldn’t significantly impact small businesses—to avoiding compliance with congressional oversight, the findings paint a picture of Washington operating in a parallel universe, one where accountability is a foreign concept.
Rep. Roger Williams, the House Committee on Small Business chair, has made it clear that these bills are not just window dressing. They aim to close the loopholes that let federal agencies run wild, enforcing regulations with zero regard for the mess they leave behind. If the Prove It Act passes, it will force agencies to actually listen to the voices of small business owners and reconsider regulations that may very well sink their ships. It’s time for accountability in the regulatory process, and hopefully, this initiative will mark a step in the right direction for America’s small businesses.
