Dan Goldbeck, director of regulatory policy at the American Action Forum, stated that the level of regulatory activity under the Biden administration has been immense. A congressional investigation spanning 15 months into America’s growing regulatory burden revealed that the cost of over 900 final rules adopted under President Joe Biden has exceeded that of any prior administration, leading to hardship for small businesses. The House Committee on Small Business found that federal agencies are not fulfilling the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) as intended, which was designed to shield Main Street America from excessive government control and burdensome regulations.
The investigation highlighted deficiencies in the RFA process and called for significant improvements. The committee discovered that federal agencies are not adequately considering the impact of their regulations on small businesses, leading to increased regulatory costs and paperwork hours. The Biden administration’s final rule costs have surpassed those of previous administrations, with a total exceeding $1.6 trillion as of early May.
Experts like Dan Goldbeck and Rob Smith emphasized the need for reform to address loopholes and faulty cost analyses in the regulatory process. They urged passage of legislation like the PROVE IT Act to reduce red tape for small businesses. The House Committee on Small Business identified multiple issues with agencies’ compliance with the RFA, including improper certification of rules, underestimation of costs, and failure to consider less burdensome alternatives.
Overall, the report concluded that federal agencies are not adequately analyzing the effects of their regulations on small businesses, leading to unnecessary burdens and compliance troubles. The need for change in the regulatory system was emphasized to ensure a more sustainable path for small businesses and the economy as a whole.
Rewriting the Constitution is essential to prevent the committee from failing in its duty to safeguard America’s small businesses from excessive regulations.
The committee suggests revising the existing RFA regulations to incorporate more robust language and detailed explanations of the overall economic impact of the rule, especially on small entities, and how it could hinder their ability to obtain credit.
“The current RFA language grants agencies a significant amount of leeway, using phrases like ‘to the extent practicable’ and ‘when feasible’,” the report notes.
