ICYMI: NFIB’s Beth Milito Testifies on Regulatory Landscape for Small Businesses

July 19, 2023

ICYMI: NFIB’s Beth Milito Testifies on Regulatory Landscape for Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2023) – Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center Beth Milito testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections in a hearing titled, “Cutting Corners at WHD: Examining the Cost to Workers, Small Businesses, and the Economy.” Milito spoke on the financial and negative impact government regulations and red tape have on small businesses. Milito also testified about NFIB’s latest white paper on the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and how Congress could lessen the regulatory burden on small businesses. “If the question is, how should Congress and the President respond to the challenges facing small businesses? We believe legislators should look to the example laid by the Democratic-led 96^th Congress and President Jimmy Carter. In 1980, President Carter and Congress recognized the disproportionate impact of federal regulations on small businesses and unanimously approved the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). Upon signing the RFA into law, President Carter stated, ‘this bill adds another piece to the far-reaching regulatory reform record that we and the Congress are building.’ “The intent of the RFA was clear – when promulgating regulations, federal agencies must consider and minimize the impact of rules on small businesses. However, in the 40-plus years since the RFA became law, agencies have found ways to disregard or bypass many of the RFA’s requirements. In fact, NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center recently analyzed the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy’s comment letters to federal agencies from January 2021 to January 2023 and found significant noncompliance with the RFA. In these letters, Advocacy highlighted 29 instances where agencies failed to adequately examine the economic costs of regulations.” NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center released a white paper titled, “The Regulatory Flexibility Act: Turning a Paper Tiger Into a Legitimate Constraint on One-Size-Fits-All Agency Rulemaking.” Read her full testimony here. Watch Milito’s opening statement here.

Topics:

Regulations

Get to know NFIB

NFIB is a member-driven organization advocating on behalf of small and independent businesses nationwide.

Learn More