The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act
OUR POSITION: CSS opposes the bill and urges lawmakers to vote against it.
The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (SBRFIA) would increase unnecessary and lengthy regulatory delays by adding a host of new analytical requirements for agency policy actions. The bill makes no attempt to target its new analytical requirements at rules that actually affect small businesses.
The bill would require agencies to consider the “indirect effects” or “revenue effects” of rules on small businesses without ever defining what those terms mean. In practice, agencies would be pressured to treat every new rule as impacting small business — even ones that, in reality, apply only to the big banks or big oil companies.
The SBRFIA would tie the hands of agencies, forcing them to delay actions until new analyses are completed. During public health emergencies and industrial accidents when agencies need to act quickly, lives could be lost and people could be needlessly injured while agencies are forced to conduct time consuming analyses.
In addition, the SBRFIA would inappropriately increase the authority of the Office of Advocacy in the Small Business Administration. Contrary to its name, the Office generally acts as a taxpayer-funded voice for large corporations and the trade associations dominated by them – not small businesses. It routinely repackages and submits talking points provided by corporate lobbyists as formal comments – making no effort to understand the science behind critical health and safety issues or determine whether its positions represent the views and interests of small businesses.
Social Media Hashtag: #sbrfia
CSS Resources
CSS Opposes the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2017 (S. 584)
Letter to Members: May 16, 2017
Damaging Regulatory Legislation in HSGAC Mark-Up
Fact Sheet: May 16: 2017
Regulatory Accountability Act Is a Frankenstein’s Monster Built to Block and Delay Public Protections
Press Release: January 5, 2017
House Majority Has It Backwards: Safeguards Protect Small Manufacturers and Their Workers
Press Release: March 17, 2015
Corporate Congress Trying to Kill Public Safeguards
Editorial Board Alert: March 4, 2015
Beware This Big Business Trojan Horse
Press Release: February 13, 2015
Groups Oppose the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (SBRFIA) of 2015, H.R. 527
Letter to Members: February 4, 2015
Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 527, Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015
White House Veto Threat: February 3, 2015
H.R. 527, Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015
Congressional Budget Office Report: February 3, 2015
CSS Opposes the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (SBRFIA) of 2015, H.R. 527
Letter to Members: January 26, 2015
Groups Oppose the Achieving Less Excess in Regulation and Requiring Transparency (ALERRT) Act (H.R. 2804) and the Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4)
Letter to Members: September 18, 2014
Groups Oppose Package of Flawed Anti-Regulatory Bills
Letter to Members: February 25, 2014
Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act Would Hinder Federal Agencies Charged With Protecting the Public
Press Release: September 18, 2013
CSS Opposes Package of Anti-Regulatory Bills
Letter to Members: July 23, 2013
CSS Opposes the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (RFIA) of 2013
Letter to Members: June 27, 2013
Resources from Members and Allies
The Real Lowdown: The Trump and Congressional Republican Assault on Our Environment, Volume I
Natural Resources Defense Council: May 19, 2017
The Importance of Regulation and Problems with the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy
Center for Progressive Reform: March 18, 2015
The Small Business Charade
Center for Progressive Reform: February 4, 2015
Letter to Representatives Expressing Opposition to H.R. 50 and H.R. 527
AFL-CIO: February 3, 2015
Rick Smith Gets into the Policy Weeds with Ron White about Failings of ‘Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act’ (H.R. 527)
Center for Effective Government: January 29, 2015
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: Bill Promotes Big Industry Interests in the Guise of Helping Small Business
Center for Effective Government: January 27, 2015
In Their Rush to Help Big Business, Anti-Regulatory Members of Congress are Trampling Small Ones Along the Way
Center for Progressive Reform: January 26, 2015
Gaming the Rules: How Big Business Hijacks the Small Business Review Process to Weaken Public Protections
Center for Effective Government: November 2014
Press Coverage
Conservatives Complain About Regulatory Delays, Yet Vote for Roadblocks
The Hill: April 21, 2015
Five Dumb Bills Just Passed by the House Would Screw the Environment
Grist: February 28, 2015
Why Do Conservatives Hate Small Business and the Entrepreneurial Spirit?
Down with Tyranny: February 6, 2015
Deregulating Big Business in the Name of Small Business
The Hill: February 5, 2015
Which 19 House Democrats Just Voted to Hobble Federal Regulators?
DailyKos: February 5, 2015
Action: Anti-Consumer Bills, Aircraft Emissions, and Public Schools
Thieves in the Temple: February 4, 2015
Rule-Making Reforms Head to House Floor
The Hill: February 3, 2015
White House Issues Veto Threat for House Small Business Bill
Reuters: February 3, 2015
House GOP Doubles Down on Anti-Reg Agenda
The Hill: January 29, 2015
House Judiciary Committee Passes Bill on Rule-Making Reform
The Hill: January 27, 2015
ASBC Asks House to Throw Out Regulatory Reform Bill
The Hill: January 27, 2015