WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06), House Small Business Committee Chairman, released the following statement on House passage of the ALERRT Act (H.R. 2804), which includes the Committee-sponsored Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, by a vote of 236-179:

“While no one disputes that small businesses bear a greater regulatory compliance burden than larger companies, there is disagreement over whether Congress should act to improve the regulatory process, which all too often ignores the plight of small businesses. Washington can and must do better. The current rate of regulations that are unnecessarily burdensome is too great. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 was passed into law to improve the regulatory process by requiring analysis of small business impacts, but unfortunately, weaknesses in the statute have been exploited by federal agencies to the detriment of America’s best job creators. Title III of the ALERRT Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, is needed because it ensures that agencies will carefully consider the consequences of rulemaking on small businesses, including indirect impacts, and provides increased opportunities for small business input earlier in the rulemaking process. Not all regulations are bad, but many can impose costly burdens that can be a tremendous barrier to small business growth and job creation.”

BACKGROUND: In September 2013, the Small Business Committee reported out the bipartisan Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2013 (HR 2542). This month, HR 2542 was included as Title III of the ALERRT Act. Last Congress, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 (H.R. 527) passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 263-159, but died in the Senate.

Reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens for small business has been a priority for Chairman Graves. In January 2013, the Small Business Committee launched the “Small Biz Reg Watch” initiative, which encourages small businesses to participate in the federal rulemaking process by regularly highlighting new agency proposed rules that may have a significant effect on small firms and encouraging business owners to submit comments to agencies. The Committee communicates with small businesses via email and social media when new comment periods begin for select proposed rules that have a significant impact on a wide array of small firms.