Navigating regulatory burdens keep small business owners from making big strides.
But proposed legislation H.R. 2142 would create a centralized compliance website, making it easier for businesses to comply with federal regulations. On July 15, the bill passed the House with strong bipartisan support.
The Small Business Administration is currently required to publish compliance guides for small business regulations, but the guides and contact information for people to assist with regulatory issues are scattered across SBA’s webpages. If signed into law, all this information will be available in one place.
“Small business owners are the compliance officers for their business,” said NFIB Small Business Legal Center Executive Director Karen Harned. “Anything the government can do to make it easier to access plain-language compliance guides is a good thing. Business owners don’t have time to root all over the place to find everything they need to know about the law. They have a business to run.”
The bill is part of a broad package of legislation reforming the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act. In addition to passing H.R 2142, the House passed bills that expand capital access for small businesses recovering from natural disasters, help protect small businesses from hackers, and provide guidance on standards for small companies looking to compete for government contracts.
H.R. 2142 is now under consideration by the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
