Small business legislation gets Dold’s support

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Updated: January 16, 2012 8:07AM

U.S. Congressman Robert Dold (R-10th) voted in support of House Resolution 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011, which would help small businesses better understand the impact of regulations and create more accountability at the federal level.

“As a small-business owner, I understand that duplicative regulations and more red tape do not spur job creation,” said Dold. “Small businesses are unfairly burdened when the federal government writes new regulations because they do not have the employees to read through hundreds of pages of new rules.

“Rather, we need to simplify the rules and implement smart regulations, not add another layer of rules that hurt economic growth.”

“Bringing more accountability to the federal rule-making process is a top priority for small businesses, and passing the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act is critical to that effort,” said Dan Danner, National Federation of Independent Business president and chief executive officer. “Continuing to hamper the country’s biggest job creators with punishing new rules is the last thing government agencies should be doing during these tough economic times.

“This bill improves transparency and gives small businesses a greater stake in the regulatory process, and I thank Congressman Dold for his vote in support of these common-sense reforms.”

H.R. 527 would:

Require all agencies to hold small business advocacy review panels for rules affecting small businesses. The panels give agencies the chance to learn the practical effect rules have on small businesses.

Give the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy the authority to write standards of what a regulatory flexibility analysis must consist. The authority will allow the Office of Advocacy to best assist and represent small-business owners and their interests.

Require agencies to consider the indirect cost of their rules on the economy and to conduct a retrospective analysis of existing rules to identify and modify rules in need of reform.